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- The Quantum State – February 2026
The Quantum State – February 2026
A monthly newsletter by BTQ Technologies
Anastasia Marchenkova
February 11, 2026
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have issued a new federal buying guidance for post-quantum cryptography, urging agencies and critical-infrastructure operators to buy only PQC–capable products in technology categories where such tools are now widely available.”
- CISA.gov
January saw a continuation of the rapid development that the quantum industry has been known for, from government-issued guidance to deployment outside of research labs to phased commercial and industrial implementation. The U.S. CISA has issued new federal buying guidance, urging agencies and critical infrastructure operators to purchase only PQC-capable products across various technology categories.
Also, more investments are going into the acceleration of quantum technology and the development of infrastructures: Photonic raises $180 million CAD to accelerate quantum computing and networking, Equal1 secures $60 million to accelerate quantum computing using existing chip manufacturing, a €50 million European pilot called Photonics for Quantum (P4Q) launched, and Project Eleven announced a $20 million Series A funding to prepare digital assets infrastructure for the quantum era.
On the commercial side, January witnessed more collaborations and the phased implementation of quantum technologies outside of research labs. BTQ Technologies launches a Bitcoin quantum testnet, PsiQuantum and Airbus collaborate on fault-tolerant quantum algorithms for aerospace, UPM and Q*Bird deploy Spain’s first multi-node MDI-QKD network, and an IBM study finds that quantum computing is expected to reshape the industry by 2030, but enterprises are not ready for its adoption.
January maintained the momentum of increased investments, collaborations, and some acquisitions by quantum companies, along with the phased deployment of quantum technologies outside research laboratories.
BTQ Technologies Launches Bitcoin Quantum Testnet
BTQ Technologies Corp. has announced the launch of the Bitcoin Quantum testnet, the first quantum-safe fork of Bitcoin, replacing ECDSA with NIST-standardized ML-DSA to address long-term quantum risks to the Bitcoin network 17 years after Satoshi Nakamoto mined the Bitcoin genesis block on January 3, 2009. The open, permissionless testnet is designed as a production-grade proving ground for miners, developers, researchers, and users to test quantum-resistant transactions and infrastructure without risking the Bitcoin mainnet.
The launch reflects growing urgency around post-quantum migration, driven by accelerating quantum hardware progress, U.S. government mandates for quantum-safe cryptography, and increasing acknowledgment of quantum risk by major institutional investors.
BTQ’s Bitcoin Quantum testnet implements the following technical enhancements:
Complete replacement of ECDSA with FIPS 204 standardized ML-DSA
Increased block size limit to accommodate larger post-quantum signatures
Full transaction lifecycle
Provision of block explorer and mining pool
BTQ Technologies and ITRI Partner to Validate QCIM Quantum Secure Chip in Silicon
BTQ Technologies and the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), one of the world's leading applied research organizations, has announced a 2026 strategic collaboration to jointly realize and validate BTQ's Quantum Compute In Memory (QCIM) chip, a next-generation silicon platform designed to enable secure, scalable cryptographic computation for the post-quantum era.
The work will measure how well QCIM can run next generation security functions, including speed and power use, and will produce benchmark results that guide product development and support future integration and deployment planning.
Commercially, this collaboration is expected to produce silicon-level benchmarks that can help:
De-risk key architecture choices earlier in the product cycle
Accelerate engineering and integration decisions
Support commercial discussions that require validated performance and power metrics
Lay the groundwork for quantum-secure platforms intended for deployment in demanding environments
Quantum Infrastructure & Investment
 Photonic Raises $180 Million CAD ($130 Million USD) to Accelerate Quantum Computing and NetworkingPhotonic Inc., a global leader in distributed quantum computing, has raised $180 million CAD ($130 million USD) in the first close of a new funding round led by Planet First Partners, with participation from new investors including Royal Bank of Canada and TELUS, bringing total capital raised to $375 million CAD ($271 million USD) with returning support from investors such as Microsoft and BCI. |  Equal1 Raises $60 Million to Accelerate Quantum Computing Using Existing Semiconductor ManufacturingEqual1, a quantum semiconductor company, announced it has raised $60 million to accelerate the development of scalable, silicon-based quantum computers and deployment of its datacenter-ready Bell-1 quantum server. The funding will support deployment of Bell-1 systems in leading HPC centers, expansion of manufacturing through existing foundries, workforce growth, and progress toward large-scale, on-chip qubit architectures. |
 €50 Million European Pilot ‘Photonics for Quantum’ LaunchedAcross a dozen European countries, a new European pilot called Photonics for Quantum (P4Q) will launch in 2026. In this project, a large consortium will collaborate on improving the reliability, scalability, and manufacturability of photonic chips for quantum sensing, computing, and secure communications. |  Project Eleven Raises $20 Million to Prepare Digital Asset Infrastructure for the Quantum EraProject Eleven, the leader in post-quantum security and migration for digital assets, has announced a $20 million Series A funding round led by Castle Island Ventures, at a $120 million valuation, to build tools that help digital asset networks plan and execute multi-year transitions to post-quantum cryptography. |
Quantum in Industry
PsiQuantum and Airbus Collaborate on Fault-Tolerant Quantum Algorithms for Aerospace
PsiQuantum has announced its collaboration with Airbus, Europe’s largest aeronautics and space company, to develop and evaluate fault-tolerant quantum algorithms for aerospace applications, with a focus on computational fluid dynamics.
In a new paper titled “Simulating Non-Trivial Incompressible Flows With a Quantum Lattice Boltzmann Algorithm,” researchers from PsiQuantum and Airbus present an application of fault-tolerant quantum computing to solve incompressible fluid flows under realistic conditions in computational fluid dynamics (CFD).
This collaborative effort supports Airbus’s QuLAB project and reflects broader efforts to prepare aerospace firms for future fault-tolerant quantum computers, which promises to model and simulate aerodynamic drag, impact modeling, and vibration analysis, delivering significant new advantages for companies across the aerospace industry.
Keyfactor and IBM Consulting Launch Joint Solution to Accelerate Enterprise Quantum-Safe Transformation
Keyfactor, a leader in digital trust for modern enterprises, has announced a new joint solution with IBM Consulting that gives enterprises visibility into their cryptographic assets to help reduce operational and regulatory risk and accelerate readiness for post-quantum cryptography (PQC).
The joint solution combines Keyfactor’s industry-leading cryptographic discovery, PKI, digital signing, and certificate lifecycle automation capabilities with IBM Consulting’s global cybersecurity expertise, governance frameworks, and enterprise-scale quantum-safe delivery methods, accelerators, and AI-based assets.
Enterprises using the solution can benefit from four key integrated areas:
End-to-end cryptographic discovery & inventory
Risk scoring & prioritization
Modern PKI, signing, and lifecycle automation
Governance and long-term resilience
Quantum Computing Breakthroughs
 EdenCode Emerges from Stealth with Real-Time AI Decoder for Quantum Error CorrectionEdenCode Inc., a San Jose–based startup focused on artificial intelligence for quantum computing, has emerged from stealth and closed a $1.3 million pre-seed round to create an AI-powered real-time decoder designed to reduce latency and improve accuracy in quantum error correction for fault-tolerant quantum computing. |  New Quantum Sensors Could Transform CommunicationsA three-year collaboration between the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and Quantum Valley Ideas Lab (QVIL) has resulted in the development of Rydberg-atom–based sensors, a new quantum technology that could improve radio-frequency measurement and transform how we communicate by ditching traditional metal antennas. |
 Argonne Launches Silicon Quantum Processor Collaboration with IntelArgonne National Laboratory and Intel have deployed a 12-qubit quantum dot device in a collaboration led by the Department of Energy (DOE) National Quantum Information Science Research Center, Q-NEXT. Argonne said it’s investigating how the Intel 12-dot system behaves as more qubits are added, including how material properties affect operations and how the qubits interact. |  Zapata and University of Maryland Collaborate to Advance New Paradigm in Quantum SoftwareZapata Quantum Inc., a pioneer in quantum computing application and algorithm development, has announced a collaborative research effort with the University of Maryland (UMD) to develop a verification-first approach to quantum application development using end-to-end formal, proof-based methods. |
UPM and Q*Bird Deploy Spain’s First Multi-Node MDI-QKD Network
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (also referred to as UPM), through the Quantum Information and Computing Research Group, in collaboration with Q*Bird, has deployed Spain’s first operational Measurement-Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution (MDI-QKD) network, connecting 3 end nodes, marking a significant milestone in Europe’s quantum communication infrastructure.
Deployed in high-security operational environments all located in Madrid, the hub-and-spoke network connects three end nodes over 30–50 km fiber links without trusted nodes, enabling scalable and detector-secure quantum key distribution.
The deployment supports real-world evaluation of metropolitan-scale quantum communications, and the collaboration between UPM and Q*Bird strengthens Spain’s role in developing scalable, operational quantum networks, positioning the country as a key player in Europe’s EuroQCI quantum infrastructure efforts.
Quantum Security & Blockchain
 Ethereum Foundation Elevates Post-Quantum Security to Top Strategic PriorityThe Ethereum Foundation has made post-quantum security a top strategic priority, launching a dedicated post-quantum (PQ) research and engineering team and accelerating plans to transition the blockchain network to quantum-resistant cryptography designed to withstand future quantum computers. |  Coinbase Establishes Independent Advisory Board on Quantum Computing and BlockchainCoinbase announced that it has established an independent advisory board of leading quantum computing and cryptography experts to assess how future quantum computers could affect blockchain security and to provide public guidance to the crypto ecosystem (developers, users, and institutions) long before the technology becomes practical. |
📊Market Insights
IBM Study Finds Quantum Computing Is Coming, But Enterprises Aren’t Ready
IBM’s The Enterprise in 2030 study finds that quantum computing is expected to reshape the industry by 2030, but most enterprises are not preparing for its adoption, creating a strategic gap that the company's experts warn could leave even AI-advanced organizations exposed to the next major computing shift.
The Enterprise in 2030, a study from the IBM Institute for Business Value, surveyed more than 2,000 senior executives across 33 geographies and 23 industries in late 2025.
The report’s central finding is not that quantum computing is imminent, but that it is inevitable — and that corporate strategy is lagging behind that reality.
According to the study, 59% of executives believe quantum-enabled artificial intelligence (AI) will transform their industry by the end of the decade. Yet only 27% expect their organizations to be using quantum computing in any capacity by that time, a disconnect IBM describes as a strategic miscalculation rather than a timing issue.
📬 Stay Connected
January saw an increase in investments and collaborations by quantum companies, and the phased deployment of quantum technologies outside of research laboratories, while the U.S. CISA issued new federal buying guidance urging agencies and critical infrastructure operators to purchase only PQC-capable products across various technology categories. Additionally, an IBM study finds that quantum computing is expected to reshape the industry by 2030, but most enterprises are not preparing for its adoption.
Across the board:
More investments are pouring in, with multi-million-dollar allocations to accelerate quantum development and infrastructure expansion and serial funding for the collaboration of quantum firms.
Strategic partnerships are increasing, from BTQ-ITRI to PsiQuantum-Airbus to Keyfactor and IBM joining forces.
Quantum technology is getting deployed outside of research labs, as more quantum applications are being integrated into different commercial and industrial workflows.
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