Banks and regulators join quantum-resistant crypto transfer pilot on NEAR testnet

The Responsible Fintech Institute (RFI) launched a pilot on August 24, 2026, that pairs banks with post-quantum cryptographic protocols to generate wallets and execute onchain transfers on the NEAR testnet. Regulators from Abu Dhabi, Bhutan, and Malta are sitting in as governance observers, making this one of the first structured efforts to get financial supervisors and quantum-safe crypto infrastructure in the same room. The pilot uses multi-party computation (MPC) signing built on the NIST FIPS 204 ML-DSA-65 digital signature standard. It applies a federally vetted algorithm designed to withstand attacks from quantum computers to the process of creating and co-signing crypto wallets, then tests whether real transactions survive the gauntlet. Who’s at the table Safeheron, a digital asset custody technology firm, is providing the cryptographic backbone. On the banking side, participants include Bison Bank and DK Bank, both testing the protocol under institutional conditions. Three regulatory bodies are observing: the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), Bhutan’s Gelephu Financial Services Office (GFSO), and the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). Their role is not to rubber-stamp...