JPMorgan Chase, Toshiba, and Ciena have created what the partnership describes as a “first-of-its-kind” quantum key distribution (QKD) network for metropolitan areas.

They said that the network is resistant to quantum computing attacks, can detect and defend against eavesdroppers, and is capable of supporting 800 Gbps data rates for mission critical applications in real-world environmental conditions.

“Security is paramount for JPMorgan Chase,” said Marco Pistoia, PhD, distinguished engineer and head of the FLARE research group, JPMorgan Chase. “This work comes at an important time as we continue to prepare for the introduction of production-quality quantum computers, which will change the security landscape of technologies like blockchain and cryptocurrency in the foreseeable future.”

The research team studied the impact of realistic environmental factors on the quality of the quantum channel and used a QKD-secured optical channel to deploy and secure Liink by J.P. Morgan, the bank’s peer-to-peer blockchain network”.

According to the partnership, this is the first demonstration of QKD securing a mission-critical blockchain application in the industry.

“Based on the success of this project we now have a proven and tested method for defending against quantum attacks on blockchain,” said Yasushi Kawakura, vice president and general manager digital solutions division, Toshiba America. “Toshiba is proud to contribute our QKD technology to this first-of-its-kind solution.”

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