The Responsible Fintech Institute (RFI) and crypto custody infrastructure firm Safeheron have unveiled a pilot project to test a quantum-resistant cryptocurrency wallet and on-chain transfer infrastructure, Cointelegraph reported on Aug. 24 local time. Banks and financial regulators from Europe, the Middle East and Asia are participating.

The project uses a multi-party computation (MPC) protocol that supports the quantum-resistant digital signature standard ML-DSA-65 announced by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). It runs on a quantum-resistant NEAR testnet. MPC splits and stores a private key in multiple pieces, reducing the risk of asset theft from a single key leak.

RFI said the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), Bhutan’s Gelephu Financial Services Office (GFSO) and Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) have confirmed participation as regulators. Bison Bank and DK Bank will conduct the wallet creation and transfer tests.

Banks will directly test wallet creation and transfer functions in a shared application environment. Regulators will join as observers in phase 1 and later participate in a governance workstream to provide input. Participation levels differ by institution, and some regulators are reported to be involved in technical reviews from the early stage.

RFI and Safeheron said they plan to publish a white paper covering the research, protocol design and test results, and later release the underlying technology as open source.

The pilot comes amid growing concerns that quantum computers could render existing public-key cryptography ineffective. Experts say that if quantum computers gain sufficient computing power, elliptic-curve cryptography used in most cryptocurrency wallets and blockchain signatures could be broken.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has set a goal for Hong Kong’s banking sector to prepare for quantum-related security risks by 2030. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) also urged in a 2025 report that financial institutions should begin an early, coordinated and phased transition to post-quantum systems. Attention is on whether the pilot will lead to an actual regulatory framework.