The Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub has published findings from Project Leap, a two-phase set of technical experiments aimed at helping central banks prepare for a transition to quantum-resistant encryption, concluding that post-quantum cryptography (PQC) can be deployed to protect payment messaging and payment system operations. Phase 1, run with the Bank of France and Deutsche Bundesbank, tested PQC between two central bank IT systems using a hybrid encryption scheme that paired a traditional public key algorithm with quantum-resistant algorithms to secure payment messages across geographically separated systems. Phase 2, conducted with the Bank of Italy, Bank of France, Deutsche Bundesbank, Nexi-Colt and Swift, tested PQC in an operational payment system by replacing traditional digital signatures with PQC for liquidity transfers; the work required changes across multiple components to maintain compatibility with updated cryptographic libraries and all test scenarios were executed successfully. The experiments also found materially higher processing times versus traditional algorithms and flagged performance, interoperability and cryptographic agility considerations for migration planning.
Bank for International Settlements - Innovation Hub 2025-12-11
Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub publishes Project Leap findings confirming post-quantum cryptography can be implemented in payment systems
The Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub released findings from Project Leap, demonstrating that post-quantum cryptography (PQC) can secure payment messaging and system operations. The experiments, conducted with several central banks and financial institutions, highlighted successful PQC deployment but noted increased processing times and considerations for performance, interoperability, and cryptographic agility.