Arqit: Consortium Delivers World’s First Cross-border Quantum-secure Digital Trade Transaction

An international consortium of industry and technical experts, supported by government, business and other organisations, have successfully completed the world’s first quantum-secure cross-border electronic trade document transaction. This pilot saw sample building products transported from the United Kingdom to Singapore using traditional paper documentation, as well as electronic trade documents, including an electronic bill of lading (eBL) and a digital promissory note, simultaneously reconciled using a Distributed Ledger (DLT) in both jurisdictions. The TradeTrust framework, which is compliant with the UN’s Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR), was utilised in the eBL flow of the transaction, and a quantum-secure ‘seal’ was placed around the electronic trade documents using Arqit’s symmetric key agreement and quantum notary technology. The shipment was live tracked, and the condition of its contents was monitored throughout the journey using low-cost, secure IoT technology.