The UAN has issued a report warning that the global financial system will be exposed to the risk of a failure of encryption systems when calculating “threat or gain” in quantum

ON 2 AUGUST, AN UPDATED STUDY WAS RELEASED BY WFZ GERMANY ON 2 AUGUST, INDICATING THAT THE POTENTIAL THREAT TO THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL SYSTEM FROM QUANTUM CALCULATIONS COULD PRECEDE ITS COMMERCIAL GAINS. THE REPORT WARNS THAT, AS QUANTUM COMPUTING CAPACITY INCREASES, EXISTING ENCRYPTION SYSTEMS ARE AT RISK OF FAILURE AND THAT THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL INDUSTRY NEEDS TO IMMEDIATELY INITIATE DEFENSIVE MIGRATION TO RESPOND TO POSSIBLE EARLY "QUANTUM DAYS". THE REPORT NOTES THAT THE COMMERCIAL VALUE OF QUANTUM CALCULATIONS IS CURRENTLY CONCENTRATED IN COMPLEX AREAS OF FINANCIAL SIMULATIONS, SUCH AS DERIVATIVE PRICING, AND THAT THE STABILIZING ADVANTAGE OF CLASSIC METHODS OF CALCULATION, SUCH AS PORTFOLIO OPTIMIZATION, HAS NOT BEEN DEMONSTRATED. IN CONTRAST, THE THREAT POSED BY QUANTUM CALCULATIONS TO THE EXISTING ENCRYPTION SYSTEM IS MORE PRESSING. SINCE THE ADVENT OF THE RELEVANT DECRYPTION ALGORITHM IN 1994, THE BREAK-IN OF THE EXISTING ENCRYPTION SYSTEM HAS ONLY REQUIRED THE DEVELOPMENT OF HARDWARE. EXPERTS ASSESSED THE PROBABILITY THAT QUANTUM COMPUTERS WITH PASSWORD-RELATED CAPABILITIES WOULD APPEAR AT 28 TO 49 PER CENT OVER THE NEXT DECADE. THE REPORT HIGHLIGHTS, IN PARTICULAR, THE SECURITY RISKS OF “COLLECTING AND DECRYPTING” FIRST. ENCRYPTED DATA THAT ARE CURRENTLY INTERCEPTED AND STORED BY THE ATTACKERS MAY BE DECRYPTED AFTER THE QUANTUM COMPUTER HAS MATURED, POSING A SERIOUS THREAT TO THE LONG-TERM CONFIDENTIALITY OF FINANCIAL DATA AND GOVERNMENT INFORMATION. IN THE AREA OF DIGITAL ASSETS, RISKS HAVE BEEN INITIALLY IDENTIFIED. BY THE SPRING OF 2026, ABOUT 6 MILLION BITCOINS (30 PER CENT OF THEIR TOTAL SUPPLY) WERE AT POTENTIAL RISK FROM EXPOSURE TO PUBLIC KEYS AND COULD AFFECT STABLE CURRENCIES AND MONETIZED ASSETS. THE BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS ESTIMATES THAT IF THE ASSOCIATED RISKS EVOLVE INTO A SYSTEMIC CRISIS, THE ECONOMIC LOSSES OVER THE NEXT 15 TO 20 YEARS COULD EXCEED 1 PER CENT OF GLOBAL GDP. THE REPORT EMPHASIZES THAT THE PRIVATE SECTOR IS CURRENTLY PRIMARILY PURSUING COMMERCIAL GAINS, WHILE THE RESPONSE TO SECURITY THREATS IS MOSTLY INTERNAL. CURRENTLY, ONLY ABOUT 35 PER CENT OF LARGE INSTITUTIONS HAVE COMPLETED THE INVENTORY OF ENCRYPTED ASSETS. THE UNION RECOMMENDS THAT FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS SHOULD NOT BE DESPERATE AND THAT, REGARDLESS OF THE ARRIVAL OF QUANTUM DAY, IT IS URGENT TO ESTABLISH A SECURE AND AGILE STRUCTURE, PRIORITIZE ASSET INVENTORIES, DEVELOP MIGRATION ROAD MAPS AND TEST BACK-UP PROGRAMMES TO ENSURE THE SECURITY AND RESILIENCE OF THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM IN THE QUANTUM AGE。