Singapore MAS QKD sandbox report favours post-quantum cryptography
29 SEPTEMBER 2025, SINGAPORE
The Monetary Authority of Singapore published a quantum key distribution sandbox report on 29 September 2025. The report positions post-quantum cryptography as the foundation for financial security and treats quantum key distribution, or QKD, as suited to niche point-to-point links. In short, it favours software-based post-quantum cryptography for broad use over hardware-based QKD.
The distinction between the two technologies drives the conclusion. Post-quantum cryptography uses new mathematical algorithms that run on existing systems, while QKD uses the physics of quantum mechanics to exchange keys and needs specialised hardware and dedicated links. One scales across standard networks; the other does not.
That is why the report treats post-quantum cryptography as the general solution. PQC works across standard networks and systems without QKD's specialised hardware and point-to-point constraints, so it fits the broad needs of a financial sector. QKD's limits confine it to specific high-value links, which makes it complementary rather than foundational in the MAS view.
Why it matters. The MAS report gives financial firms a clear steer: build on post-quantum cryptography and treat QKD as a niche tool for specific links. That guidance helps firms avoid over-investing in QKD hardware for problems that software-based PQC solves more flexibly. For a leading financial hub to state the preference plainly gives firms confidence to focus their migration effort on post-quantum algorithms.