Banks and regulators test quantum-safe crypto wallets in pilot

A later governance workstream will examine operational resilience and cross-border interoperability. The initiative could help participants assess how post-quantum wallet infrastructure fits existing custody and cybersecurity requirements.

“No single bank, vendor, or regulator solves this alone,” Responsible Fintech Institute Chairman Chia Hock Lai said. He described the project as an effort to produce a shared security and compliance reference.

Safeheron said it eventually intends to release the protocol as open source software, allowing independent researchers to examine the implementation. The organizers also plan to publish a white paper covering the research and protocol design. Neither the white paper nor the software release has a confirmed publication date. Until both become available, outside researchers cannot independently assess the protocol's implementation and security assumptions.

The Bank for International Settlements warned in a July 2025 roadmap that migration to post-quantum systems cannot be treated as a simple algorithm replacement. Banks must identify where existing cryptography is used and assess third party dependencies. They also need systems that can switch between cryptographic methods. The BIS recommended coordinated planning, layered defenses, hybrid systems and phased migration.

Hong Kong is already measuring progress. As previously reported, its banking sector scored 2.3 out of 10 for quantum preparedness, while 32% of surveyed banks had not begun preparing. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority wants the sector fully prepared by 2030.

Blockchain developers are also testing network level changes. The Algorand Foundation set a 2027 target for broad quantum resilience covering accounts, wallets, validator tools and consensus, the foundation said.

Bitcoin developers have proposed new transaction formats designed to protect future funds from quantum attacks. Moving existing holdings into quantum resistant outputs would require broad coordination across users, wallets, exchanges and custodians.

The bank pilot's next milestones are the completion of wallet and transfer testing, the governance review, publication of the white paper and release of the underlying code. Those materials will show whether the system can offer practical performance alongside its intended security properties, the organizers said.