Banking consortium tests MPC with lattice-based cryptography on NEAR Protocol’s quantum-resistant testnet

Quantum computing is still mostly a theoretical threat to financial infrastructure, but the institutions that move slowly on cryptographic upgrades tend to be the ones scrambling later. NEAR Protocol, alongside the Responsible Fintech Institute and technology firm Safeheron, is not waiting around. On August 23, 2026, the Responsible Fintech Institute convened a cross-regional pilot consortium explicitly designed to stress-test post-quantum cryptography in live institutional digital asset workflows. The group ran wallet generation and on-chain transfer simulations on NEAR’s quantum-resistant testnet, using a multi-party computation protocol built on the NIST FIPS 204 ML-DSA-65 lattice-based digital signature standard. What the pilot actually involves Multi-party computation, in plain terms, means no single party ever holds a complete private key. The consortium is testing a non-custodial 2-of-2 MPC design, meaning both parties must participate in every signing event, and neither can act unilaterally. The lattice-based signature scheme at the center of this is ML-DSA-65, one of the standards NIST finalized as part of its post-quantum cryptography project. NEAR explicitly selected the...