In a groundbreaking research, JP Morgan Chase, a leading global financial services firm, Toshiba, and Ciena have demonstrated the full viability of a first-of-its-kind Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) network for metropolitan areas, resistant to quantum computing attacks and capable of supporting 800 Gbps data rates for mission-critical applications under real-world environmental conditions
The research team demonstrated the ability of the newly developed QKD network to instantly detect and defend against eavesdroppers. It also 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 Link by JP Morgan, the world’s first bank-led, production-grade, peer-to-peer blockchain network.
Under the leadership of JPMorgan Chase’s Future Lab for Applied Research and Engineering (FLARE) and Global Network Infrastructure teams, researchers from all three organizations collaborated to achieve the notable results. The proof of concept network infrastructure relied on Toshiba’s multiplexed QKD system, manufactured by Toshiba Europe at their Cambridge UK base, and Ciena’s Waveserver 5 platform, equipped with 800 Gbps optical-layer encryption and open APIs running over Ciena’s 6500 photonic solutions.
“Security is paramount for JP Morgan Chase,” said Marco Pistoia, Ph.D., 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.”
