Hong Kong’s central bank is sounding the alarm on quantum computing.
On Monday, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) published a whitepaper on the banking sector’s readiness for the quantum era, complete with its first Quantum Preparedness Index reading.
The score? A dismal 2.3 out of 10.
At that level, the territory’s banking industry is just figuring out the risks posed by the technology even as many security experts warn that the quantum age is already knocking on the door.
The whitepaper, unveiled at the eighth FiNETech conference and based on a survey conducted earlier this year, shows awareness is starting to build, but actual preparation is lagging.
About 68% of banks surveyed showed at least some awareness or had moved into planning or pilot stages. The rest hadn’t even started. Roughly half have yet to formalize a plan for moving to post-quantum cryptography. Additionally, while board-level discussions had occurred at about half the banks, only one-third had begun exploring or testing anything quantum-related.
In essence, Hong Kong banks were still laying the groundwork rather than building proper quantum capabilities. This stage is one of four tracked by the index, alongside planning, pilot programs and practical preparedness.
Readiness matters because quantum computing poses a real long-term risk to the cryptography that underpins modern finance. Banks are especially vulnerable to “harvest now, decrypt later” attacks, which the Bank for International Settlements’ Project Leap has flagged as an immediate threat to the financial system.
The harvest now, decrypt later means that malicious entities could be stockpiling encrypted banking data today, waiting for the quantum hardware to catch up. Blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum face the same risk, which could leave modern finance exposed to a long-term security risk.
While practical, large-scale quantum machines capable of breaking bank security and blockchains such as Bitcoin do not exist today, estimates for when that risk could become real start in as early as 2029.
The HKMA is aiming for a perfect 10 on the Quantum Preparedness Index by 2030. To get there, the regulator is rolling out practical tools: a post-quantum cryptography toolkit being developed with Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s business school, plus a series of workshops to help banks build skills, improve crypto agility and explore quantum opportunities responsibly.
It’s not alone. President Donald Trump recently signed two executive orders. One aims to accelerate U.S. quantum computing development, with a goal of producing a machine powerful enough for scientific research by 2028. The other calls for the federal government’s migration to post-quantum cryptography by 2030-31.