The Quantum State – June 2026

A monthly newsletter by BTQ Technologies

Author

Anastasia Marchenkova
June 12, 2026

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The U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology has advanced H.R. 8462, the National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act, moving legislation one step closer to a full House vote.”

- Source

May carried on with the developmental momentum associated with the quantum industry across policy, infrastructure, and commercial ecosystems. Previously approved by lawmakers during an April 29 markup session, the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology has advanced H.R. 8462, the National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act, moving legislation one step closer to a full House vote.

Also, the quantum industry is attracting more investment from governments and VCs to develop new and existing quantum technologies and infrastructure. The US government is planning to invest $2 billion in nine quantum computing firms and claim equity stakes in the companies. Photonic Inc. closes investment round with over $200m USD, QuantWare raises $178 million to build world’s most powerful quantum processors at an industrial scale, and MIT launches quantum systems laboratory with $25m backing from the state of Massachusetts.

On the commercial side, BTQ Technologies' QSSN has been selected as core security infrastructure for South Korea's first bank-led Korean Won (KRW) stablecoin proof-of-concept, Aramco and Pasqal launch Saudi Arabia’s first quantum computer and the Middle East’s first commercial Quantum Computing as a Service (QCaaS) platform, and Toshiba Europe Limited and Quantum Bridge Technologies demonstrate global quantum-safe networking capability. In addition, the rise in Harvard startups achieving commercial success signals that quantum computing may be advancing faster than expected.

May kept pace with investments, partnerships, and the development and limited application of new and existing quantum technologies in commercial and industrial ecosystems.

BTQ Technologies' QSSN Selected as Core Security Infrastructure for South Korea's First Bank-Led KRW Stablecoin Proof-of-Concept

BTQ has been selected as the core post-quantum cryptography security technology provider for South Korea's first bank-led KRW (Korean Won) stablecoin proof-of-concept, delivering its Quantum Secure Stablecoin Settlement Network ("QSSN") for the initiative.

BTQ is working alongside iM Bank, a leading Korean commercial bank, and Finger Inc. on a three-way initiative to validate the issuance, integrate long-term post-quantum security, and facilitate the distribution infrastructure for a Korean Won stablecoin.

"In this initiative, BTQ is providing both strategic advisory support and QSSN as the post-quantum security architecture, while helping lead coordination across the three-way partnership. We believe this proof-of-concept demonstrates how financial institutions can begin integrating quantum-resilient protections into digital money systems in a practical and operationally viable way."

Olivier Roussy Newton, Chief Executive Officer of BTQ Technologies

Built on the Kaia mainnet, the proof-of-concept is connected to the blockchain ecosystems originally developed by Kakao and LINE, linking the initiative to two of the largest messaging and digital platform ecosystems in Korea and Japan.

Quantum Infrastructure & Investment

US to Invest $2 Billion in IBM, Other Quantum Computing Firms

The Trump administration is reportedly preparing a $2 billion quantum computing funding package that would also give the federal government equity stakes in nine companies developing quantum technologies. According to the report, IBM is expected to receive the largest share of the package at about $1 billion. Semiconductor manufacturer GlobalFoundries is slated to receive approximately $375 million.

Photonic Inc. Closes Investment Round with over $200M USD ($275M CAD)

Photonic Inc., a global leader in distributed quantum computing, announced it has closed an investment round exceeding $200M USD ($275M CAD), giving the company a $2B USD ($2.7B CAD) post-money valuation. The financing round was led by Canadian, UK, and other international investors and partners, as Photonic is accelerating the path to fault-tolerant quantum computing through its Entanglement First™ Architecture.

QuantWare Raises $178 Million to Build World’s Most Powerful Quantum Processors at an Industrial Scale

QuantWare, the leading industrial quantum processor company, has announced a $178 million (€152 million) Series B round following the announcement of VIO-40K™, a quantum processor architecture for 10,000 qubits, 100x larger than the state of the art today. The company is building KiloFab, the world’s largest dedicated quantum open-architecture fab, increasing its production capacity by 20x to meet strong global customer demand.

MIT Launches Quantum Systems Laboratory with $25M Massachusetts Backing

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have announced plans for a new laboratory (the Quantum Systems Laboratory) at MIT, backed by a $25 million state investment, to accelerate the development of next-generation quantum technologies, expand shared quantum research infrastructure, and strengthen the state’s position as a hub for quantum innovation.

Quantum in Industry

Aramco and Pasqal Launch Saudi Arabia’s first Quantum Computer and the Middle East’s first Commercial Quantum Computing as a Service Platform

Aramco, one of the world’s leading energy and chemicals companies, in partnership with Pasqal, a global leader in neutral-atom quantum computing, has officially inaugurated the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s first quantum computer and launched the Middle East’s first commercial Quantum Computing as a Service (QCaaS) platform, expanding regional access to quantum computing infrastructure and applications.

The 200-qubit neutral-atom quantum processing unit, located at Aramco’s data center in Dhahran, provides enterprises, universities, and research institutions with immediate, low-latency access to quantum hardware through a secure cloud platform (QCaaS) to address complex industrial challenges such as logistics, CO₂ storage optimization and supply chain management.

The partnership builds on Aramco and Pasqal’s collaboration since 2023, including investment support from Wa’ed Ventures and ongoing efforts to develop Saudi Arabia’s domestic quantum workforce and broader regional quantum ecosystem.

Toshiba Europe Limited and Quantum Bridge Technologies Demonstrate Global Quantum-Safe Networking Capability

Toshiba Europe Limited and Quantum Bridge Technologies Inc. (QBT) have announced the successful demonstration of an international communication network that delivers provably secure, quantum-safe data transmission combining Toshiba's Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Quantum Bridge's Distributed Symmetric Key Establishment (DSKE) technologies.

The demonstration connected an operational QKD network in Cambridge, UK, with a newly established QKD network in Toronto, Canada. The systems were hosted in Telehouse Canada Inc.'s data centres and connected via installed fibre infrastructure, demonstrating seamless operation in carrier-grade environments.

Giving his remarks on the achievement, Andrew Shields, Vice President of Toshiba and Head of its Quantum Technology Division, said:

“This demonstration shows how quantum key distribution networks can be extended beyond metropolitan distances while preserving the same level of provable security. By combining high-speed QKD networks with DSKE technology and emerging interoperability standards, we are taking an important step toward a practical global communication infrastructure that remains secure in the quantum computing era.”

Quantum Computing Breakthroughs

Telia and QMill Demonstrate New Quantum-Enhanced Data Encryption Method For Mobile Networks

Telia Finland and QMill have developed quantum-enhanced message encryption for mobile networks. QMill’s new encryption method is enabled by local or cloud quantum computers. Once completed, the method is designed to protect messages against attacks carried out using either classical or quantum resources.

Equal1 Debuts Silicon-Spin Quantum Computer Designed for Standard 19-Inch Server Racks

Equal1 has announced the global release of RacQ. RacQ, the next-generation evolution of Equal1’s Bell-1 Server, is a rack-mounted silicon-spin quantum computer designed for deployment within a standard 19-inch data center rack. The Equal1 RacQ is designed to integrate seamlessly with any classical compute hardware, enabling hybrid quantum-classical compute all within the same data center rack form factor.

Quantum Technology Supersensors Develops Quantum Sensing Robot Skin

UK company Quantum Technology Supersensors has developed a simple, printable Quantum Sensing textile robotic skin for both proximity and contact pressure sensing, offering the opportunity for robots of any shape or size (from robot arms to humanoids) to be dressed in affordable, retrofittable, lightweight wearable skins for safer human interaction.

Cleveland Clinic, RIKEN and IBM Model a 12,635-Atom Protein — The Largest Known to Be Simulated With Quantum Computers

Scientists at Cleveland Clinic, RIKEN, and IBM have used IBM quantum computers and two of the world’s most powerful supercomputers to simulate protein complexes spanning up to 12,635 atoms. These are the largest-known simulations of biologically meaningful molecules performed with quantum hardware yet, and signal that quantum computers are maturing into useful scientific tools which can help solve fundamental problems in biology, chemistry, and life sciences.

France Adds €1.55 Billion for Quantum and Semiconductor Development

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that France will commit an additional €1 billion to its national quantum plan and €550 million to semiconductor research and industrialization tied to AI and data centers, all under the France 2030 program. The president made this announcement during a visit to the Very Large Computing Center (TGCC) of the Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA) in Bruyères-le-Châtel.

Macron linked the investment to European technological sovereignty and increasing competition from the United States and China in critical technologies.

“What we are talking about today is the challenge of our independence, of our sovereignty over these great capabilities of electronics, computing and also artificial intelligence for the years and decades to come,” Macron said, as quoted by Le Monde. “We need to accelerate innovation and change scale.”

For context, the new funding adds to a quantum plan of €1.8 billion covering the period 2021-2025, which was itself supplemented in 2024 by €500 million through a defense sector public procurement program. On semiconductors, the announcements build on a national strategy launched in 2022 with €5.5 billion in total commitments.

Quantum Security & Blockchain

Bitcoin Quantumroot Vaults Go Live on CashVM: Upgrade Unlocks Turing-Complete DeFi on L1 with Cashtokens

The Bitcoin Cash community has announced the successful activation of the Layla Upgrade, introducing the Turing-complete CashVM scripting language and expanding Layer 1 decentralized finance capabilities through features including bounded loops, functions, bitwise operations, and pay-to-script functionality.

Western Digital Integrates NIST-approved Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) into Enterprise Hard Drives

Western Digital announced that its new Ultrastar® UltraSMR hard drives integrate NIST-approved post-quantum cryptography to prevent ‘harvest now, decrypt later’ (HNDL) attacks, marking one of the first deployments of quantum-resistant security in production storage infrastructure for AI-era data systems.

📊Market Insights

Harvard Startups Signal Quantum Computing May Be Developing at a Faster Pace Than Expected

Harvard researchers report that advances in fault tolerance have accelerated quantum computing timelines by five to ten years, bringing early forms of large-scale systems potentially within reach by the end of the decade.

The pace of progress has already produced commercial momentum largely from labs affiliated with Harvard’s Quantum Initiative (HQI) in Science and Engineering, with three startups, including:

  • LightsynQ, co-founded in 2024 by Mihir Bhaskar, and acquired by IonQ in 2025

  • QuEra, founded in 2018 by Mikhail Lukin, co-director of the HQI in Science and Engineering, and Markus Greiner

  • CavilinQ, founded in 2025, recently secured $8.8 million in seed funding to further develop quantum networking

“Where are we now compared to where we thought we’d be in 2018? We are so much farther ahead than I think any of us could have imagined,”

says Evelyn Hu, Tarr-Coyne Professor of Applied Physics and of Electrical Engineering, reflecting a sentiment that this once theoretical science is rapidly approaching practical application.

According to Mikhail Lukin:

“People initially thought that this sort of fault-tolerant, large-scale, quantum computers would be coming sometime by the end of the next decade, and I think it’s quite likely that actually they will be here — at least in some form — by the end of this decade,” Lukin said. “So, we’re at least five, maybe 10 years ahead. And it’s really a lot of the work in the HQI that fueled that.”

📬 Stay Connected

May saw an increase in investment inflows from governments and VCs, more partnerships by startups and companies in and outside the quantum industry, and the controlled application of quantum technologies for commercial and industrial purposes, while the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology has advanced the National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act, moving legislation one step closer to a full house vote.

Across the board:

  • There are more investment inflows, with billions and multi-million-dollar funding to accelerate quantum technology development and its applications, and to expand or build new infrastructures.

  • Strategic partnerships are on the rise, from BTQ-iM Bank-Finger Inc. to Aramco-Pasqal to Toshiba Europe Limited-Quantum Bridge.

  • Quantum technology is seeing controlled deployments, as more quantum applications are integrated into various commercial and industrial workflows.

Contact us at quantumstate@btq.tech

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