The Responsible Fintech Institute and Safeheron have launched a cross-regional pilot to test post-quantum cryptography for digital asset transactions, bringing together financial institutions and regulatory stakeholders from multiple jurisdictions.
The initiative will examine how quantum-resistant infrastructure could be deployed in regulated financial environments, with testing focused on wallet generation and digital asset transfers.
Safeheron is supporting the project as technology partner, while RFI is leading governance and stakeholder coordination.
The pilot centres on a post-quantum cryptography research programme using a multi-party computation protocol supporting ML-DSA-65, the NIST FIPS 204 digital signature standard.
Participating institutions will test wallet generation and on-chain transfers on the quantum-resistant NEAR testnet.
Alongside the technical testing, the consortium will examine cross-border interoperability, operational resilience and governance considerations.
Regulators will initially participate as observers before contributing to a dedicated governance workstream during the next phase.
Current participants include Abu Dhabi Global Market, the Gelephu Financial Services Office and the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), alongside banks including Bison Bank and DK Bank.
Additional institutions are also being considered for participation.
Chia Hock Lai, Chairman of the Responsible Fintech Institute, said the initiative reflects the need for banks, regulators and technology providers to work together as the financial sector prepares for quantum-related risks.
“By bringing policymakers and financial institutions across jurisdictions together to test the same post-quantum architecture, and transparently sharing that research with every participant, we are building a compliance and security reference the whole industry can stand on – and a standard we all helped write,” he said.
The project comes as financial institutions face growing pressure to prepare for the potential impact of quantum computing on existing cryptographic systems.
The Bank for International Settlements has previously highlighted the need for coordinated planning, cryptographic agility and phased migration as financial institutions prepare for the transition to post-quantum security.
Safeheron said the pilot will also explore the use of NIST’s post-quantum signature standard alongside MPC technology, with the eventual intention of open-sourcing the underlying PQC code.
The initiative is designed around a tentative non-custodial 2-of-2 MPC model, which is intended to reduce operational requirements while maintaining institutional control over key ownership.
The consortium also plans to publish a whitepaper detailing its research, protocol design and testing findings.
The underlying protocol technology is expected to eventually be open-sourced to support independent security auditing and wider industry adoption.
For participating regulators and financial institutions, the pilot will provide an opportunity to assess how post-quantum technologies could operate across jurisdictions while addressing cybersecurity, governance and operational resilience requirements.
