Treasury Unveils Post-Quantum Readiness Task Force

The U.S. Treasury Department announced Monday (Aug. 24) the launch of a public-private initiative aimed at helping financial institutions and systems migrate from today’s widely used cryptographic tools to a new generation of security systems that can withstand quantum-computing attacks.

The Quantum-Readiness Task Force will bring together government officials, financial institutions, market infrastructure operators and technology providers “to help accelerate the U.S. financial sector’s transition to quantum-safe technology in an orderly and operationally resilient manner, building on the G7 Cyber Expert Group roadmap for the transition to post-quantum cryptography,” according to a Monday press release.

“America must lead in securing the technologies that power our economy,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the release. “This task force will help ensure our financial system remains strong, secure and competitive as new technologies reshape the global landscape.”

The task force’s work will be divided into three areas, including sector alignment and post-quantum cryptography; third-party and vendor readiness; and digital assets and emerging technology risk, the release said.

The work stream on vendor readiness may carry the greatest significance for financial institutions. Banks frequently do not control the encryption embedded in their cloud services, network appliances, hardware security modules, identity platforms or payments software. Migration to new systems therefore will depend on vendors’ product roadmaps and their ability to support new interoperable, validated algorithms.

That division of labor creates various practical challenges. Financial institutions may not know everywhere quantum-vulnerable cryptography is being used within their supply chains. Different vendors may migrate on different timetables. Replacing encryption in one system could also disrupt connections with counterparties and broader market infrastructure.

A main goal of the Task Force is to “ensure that the transition to quantum-safe technology is coordinated, risk-based, and operationally resilient,” Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Luke Pettit said in the release.

The task force’s focus on digital assets will also be critical as the President Donald Trump administration looks to accelerate its integration into existing financial systems and markets. The blockchains that underlie digital assets rely on public-key cryptography to secure assets and authorize transactions. Advances in quantum computing could eventually allow an attacker to derive private keys from exposed public keys, forge signatures or move assets without authorization.

Unlike a bank database, moreover, a decentralized network cannot be upgraded by a single administrator. Migration is likely to require agreement among developers, validators, custodians, exchanges and users. The task force is intended to help establish clear channels of communication among the various stakeholders, according to the press release.

There is also a “harvest now, decrypt later” threat. An adversary can collect encrypted information today and retain it until quantum technology becomes capable of decrypting it. That makes the issue an immediate concern for financial, identity or transaction data embedded in systems meant to be immutable.

“Post-quantum cryptography readiness is no longer a future-proofing exercise; it is a present-day risk control,” Deborah Guild, chair of the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council and head of technology at PNC Financial Services Group, said in the release. “The transition requires organizations to prioritize critical systems and processes, manage dependencies across the financial ecosystem, and address implementation challenges. This task force sets the conditions for industry and government to align priorities and accelerate the transition to post-quantum cryptography.”

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