Quantum computing is ceasing to be a theoretical threat to the crypto industry. The Responsible Fintech Institute, together with cryptographic solutions provider Safeheron, has initiated an international pilot project aimed at testing the protection of digital assets against attacks using quantum computers. Bison Bank and DK Bank have already joined the initiative, and regulators from Abu Dhabi, Bhutan, and Malta will observe the trials at the initial stage.
The Essence of the Experiment
As part of the pilot, participants will test the creation of wallets and the execution of on-chain transactions on the NEAR testnet. The key feature is the use of multi-party computation (MPC) combined with the post-quantum digital signature algorithm ML-DSA-65, developed by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). This approach is designed to ensure resilience against potential attacks that could become possible with the advent of sufficiently powerful quantum machines.
Upon completion of the trials, the organizers plan to publish a technical report and then open-source the protocol's code. This will allow other market participants to adapt the solutions and prepare for upcoming challenges.
My analysis: The initiative is timely, although the mass adoption of quantum computers capable of breaking existing cryptography is not a matter of the near future. Nevertheless, the transition to post-quantum standards is a marathon, not a sprint. Banks and crypto exchanges should already be building compatibility with new algorithms into their architectures to avoid a painful migration in the future. The participation of regulators from different jurisdictions is especially telling—it is a signal that the problem is being recognized at the state level.