HSBC has announced a significant breakthrough today with the successful trial of quantum-secure technology for the trading of tokenised physical gold. This advancement represents a crucial step in HSBC’s commitment to safeguarding essential applications against potential quantum computing threats.
Previously, HSBC led the way as the first global bank to offer tokenised physical gold to institutional investors through distributed ledger technology (DLT). Building on this success, HSBC recently introduced the HSBC Gold Token for retail investors in Hong Kong, enabling fractional ownership of physical gold. Both innovations are supported by the HSBC Orion digital assets platform.
In addition to these developments, HSBC has tested the interoperability of its gold tokens using post-quantum cryptography (PQC). This testing ensures secure transfer of digital assets across distributed ledgers via protected networks, addressing the evolving needs of clients and regulatory requirements. The technology also facilitates the conversion of HSBC’s gold tokens into ERC-20 fungible tokens, improving distribution and integration with other DLTs and digital wallets.
As part of its quantum security initiative, HSBC collaborated with Quantinuum, the world’s leading integrated quantum computing firm. Quantinuum utilized PQC algorithms and its Quantum Origin quantum randomness technology to provide comprehensive protection for HSBC’s gold tokens against potential quantum computing attacks and to prevent “store now, decrypt-later” (SNDL) cyber threats. SNDL is a tactic aimed at capturing sensitive data for future decryption using advanced quantum computing capabilities.
