Multiple banks and financial regulators from Europe, the Middle East, and Asia have launched a cross-regional pilot to test the quantum-resistant security of digital asset wallets and blockchain transfers. The project is conducted on a dedicated NEAR testnet, led by the Responsible Fintech Institute and supported technically by Safeheron.
First-phase testing of wallet and transfers
In the first phase, two banks will test the quantum-resistant wallet generation and transfer process; regulators will not directly execute transfers but will instead observe the testing process. The initial observers are from Abu Dhabi, Bhutan, and Malta.
The project combines multi-party computation with ML-DSA-65 signatures, which is one of the parameter sets in the NIST FIPS 204 standard. This standard was finalized in August 2024.
Does not involve the mainnet or customer funds.
The organizers emphasized that this pilot does not mean quantum computers are currently capable of threatening the participating banks or the NEAR network. There are no practical quantum computers today that can break existing blockchain signature systems at scale.
This test is more akin to forward-looking preparation, aimed at enabling financial institutions to assess in advance how to transition to the new signature standard. The scope includes wallet generation and on-chain transfers, but details regarding assets, transaction volumes, test timelines, and performance metrics have not yet been disclosed.
The pilot does not involve the NEAR mainnet or customer funds; therefore, the testnet results alone are not sufficient to prove that the system is ready for direct use in real institutional operations.
The whitepaper and code will be released subsequently.
Following the technical testing, the project will enter a governance evaluation phase, focusing on operational resilience, regulatory oversight, and cross-border interoperability. Participating institutions will assess how such quantum-resistant wallet infrastructure can be integrated into existing custody and risk management systems.
Safeheron stated that it plans to open-source the underlying protocol and release a whitepaper detailing the research findings, protocol design, and testing results. However, neither document has a confirmed release date, and external researchers are currently unable to independently verify its implementation, performance, or security assumptions.
International institutions have advanced quantum migration preparedness.
The Bank for International Settlements' roadmap for July 2025 states that post-quantum migration cannot be viewed as a simple algorithm replacement. Banks must first identify where current cryptographic technologies are used, assess third-party dependencies, and prepare systems capable of switching between different cryptographic methods.
Previously, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority disclosed that the local banking industry's quantum readiness scored only 2.3 out of 10, and 32% of surveyed banks had not yet initiated related preparations. Bitcoin developers have also proposed transaction format solutions against quantum attacks in recent years, but migrating existing holdings still requires widespread coordination among wallets, exchanges, custodians, and users.