Andrew Gault, CEO of ZeroTier, warns that the financial services industry’s reliance on public-key cryptography is threatened by a sufficiently capable cryptographically relevant quantum computer (CRQC). Such a machine could break the encryption that protects money movement, customer data, digital identities and inter-bank communications, enabling a “harvest now, decrypt later” (HNDL) attack. NIST’s first post-quantum standards were finalized in 2024, and the White House Executive Order 14412 in June 2026 directs federal systems to transition to those standards. The U.S. Treasury’s August 2026 Quantum-Readiness Task Force calls for crypto-agility—systems that can swiftly swap algorithms without major hardware changes. Gault recommends building a cryptographic bill of materials, prioritising payment infrastructure, identity systems and long-lived data, and extending agility requirements to third-party vendors. 1