Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is no longer just a research topic — it is live. Commercial QKD networks are operating today in Singapore, South Korea, and China, protecting real traffic with quantum-secured encryption. The foundation is being laid.
But QKD is only the first layer. What about the applications that can run on top of quantum networks?
Quantum tokens — unforgeable digital certificates leveraging quantum properties — have just moved beyond theory. In November 2024, NEC, Mitsui, and Quantinuum successfully demonstrated the world’s first trial of quantum tokens in a commercially realistic environment, using a 10km fiber QKD link. Financial applications such as high-speed transactions and commodity trading are the target. A private company milestone.
Quantum money — the idea of physically unclonable banknotes based on quantum states — has been demonstrated in a research lab setting (Bozzio et al., npj Quantum Information, 2018), showing that the quantum mechanical principles behind it are sound. Still a laboratory experiment, but a convincing proof of concept.
Blind Quantum Computing (BQC) — allowing a client to delegate computations to a quantum server while keeping both the data and the algorithm hidden — has also been recently demonstrated experimentally (PRL, 2025). A remarkable result, but still in the realm of controlled lab conditions.
The pattern is clear: we are progressing along the technology readiness ladder, but each step is harder than the last.
Taking a quantum communication protocol from a physics paper to a production cybersecurity system means satisfying constraints that laboratories simply do not face: integration with existing IT infrastructure, real-time performance at scale, resilience against active adversaries, certification and compliance requirements, and operational continuity. The gap between “it works in the lab” and “it secures a bank” is enormous — and bridging it is precisely the challenge the quantum networking industry is now confronting.
At VeriQloud, this is the challenge we work on every day.