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Bison Bank and DK Bank have joined a cross-regional pilot testing post-quantum security for digital asset wallets and on-chain transfers, with regulators from Abu Dhabi, Bhutan, and Malta participating initially as observers.
The Responsible Fintech Institute is convening the August 24 initiative, while Safeheron is providing the cryptographic infrastructure. The project will test whether quantum-resistant signing can work within institutional wallet operations across multiple jurisdictions.
Pilot Uses NIST’s ML-DSA-65 Standard on NEAR Testnet
Safeheron’s system uses a multi-party computation protocol supporting ML-DSA-65, the digital signature algorithm standardized by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology under FIPS 204.
Participating institutions will test wallet generation and on-chain transfers through a shared application environment on a quantum-resistant NEAR testnet. The pilot will also examine interoperability, operational resilience and governance alongside the cryptographic system.
Safeheron says the project is considering a tentative non-custodial 2-of-2 MPC design. Under that structure, two participants would jointly authorize signing while avoiding reconstruction of a complete private key in one location.
Abu Dhabi, Bhutan, and Malta Regulators Begin as Observers
Regulatory participants include Abu Dhabi Global Market, Bhutan’s Gelephu Financial Services Office and the Malta Financial Services Authority. Bison Bank and DK Bank are participating as financial institutions, with additional organizations still discussing whether to join.
The regulators will observe the first phase rather than supervise live customer transactions. RFI says they will contribute to a governance workstream during the next stage, with participation levels varying by institution.
The initiative is a proof of concept rather than a production deployment. The announcement does not describe customer assets being moved onto the test environment.
Safeheron Plans Whitepaper and Eventual Open-Source Release
RFI and Safeheron plan to publish a whitepaper covering the research, protocol design and testing results. Safeheron also intends to eventually open-source the underlying protocol, so external researchers can inspect the cryptography and implementation.
NIST finalized ML-DSA and its first two other principal post-quantum cryptography standards in August 2024, encouraging organizations to begin preparing systems for future quantum-related risks.
The pilot’s next stage will bring regulators into the governance workstream while participating banks continue evaluating wallet generation and transfer flows in the shared test environment.
