
Briefing
The financial sector faces an impending cybersecurity crisis as quantum computing advances threaten the foundational cryptographic protocols underpinning blockchain and digital finance. This paper introduces a structured four-step framework to systematically assess the feasibility and benefits of integrating quantum solutions, encompassing classical quantum applications, blockchain technologies, and post-quantum cryptography. This framework provides essential guidance for developing secure, quantum-resilient financial operations and blockchain architectures, ensuring long-term stability in the quantum era.

Context
Prior to this research, the financial industry largely grappled with an unstructured approach to evaluating the dual impact of quantum computing ∞ its potential for computational advantage and its profound cybersecurity risks to existing cryptographic infrastructures like those in blockchain. A comprehensive, integrated methodology for assessing quantum readiness and mitigating emerging threats was notably absent.

Analysis
The paper’s core mechanism is a structured four-step framework designed to systematically evaluate quantum solutions within finance. This framework integrates classical quantum applications, such as portfolio optimization and risk analysis, with an examination of blockchain and post-quantum cryptography. It fundamentally differs from previous approaches by offering a holistic perspective, guiding stakeholders through computational scalability, error tolerance, data complexity, and practical implementability to identify where quantum approaches can surpass classical techniques and how to build quantum-resilient systems.

Parameters
- Core Concept ∞ Quantum Readiness Framework
- Key Authors ∞ Gerhard Hellstern, Esra Yeniaras
- Publication Venue ∞ arXiv
- Publication Date ∞ August 29, 2025
- Primary Focus ∞ Financial Sector Cybersecurity

Outlook
This framework sets a precedent for future research by providing a systematic methodology for integrating quantum technologies into finance. Over the next three to five years, this theory could unlock real-world applications such as robust, quantum-secure blockchain networks for financial transactions and advanced risk modeling impervious to quantum attacks. It opens new avenues for interdisciplinary research at the intersection of quantum physics, cryptography, and financial engineering, fostering the development of truly quantum-resilient digital economies.

Verdict
This research establishes a vital theoretical framework for navigating the quantum transition, fundamentally securing the future of blockchain and digital finance against emergent quantum threats.