QCBRIEF
BTQ (Canada) and ICTK (South Korea) finalize a chip pairing post quantum encryption (new code to resist future quantum attacks) with a silicon fingerprint — a unique hardware identity baked into each chip; first test samples due by year end.
BTQ Technologies and ICTK have completed the design of a single security chip that pairs post-quantum encryption (new code designed to resist attacks by future quantum computers) with a hardware fingerprint built into the silicon. The Canadian and South Korean firms say first test chips will reach customers before year-end 2026.
The chip layers ICTK's VIA PUF, a "physical unclonable function" that gives each chip a unique identity from randomness distributed across hundreds of thousands of microscopic vias, on top of BTQ's QCIM cryptographic accelerator. QCIM is a soft intellectual-property block that runs both classical and post-quantum algorithms inside the memory subsystem, which BTQ says cuts latency and power use by reducing data movement.
BTQ and ICTK signed a €13.9 million (about $15 million USD) joint development and investment agreement in October 2025, after a May 2025 MOU. Target markets include IoT sensors, AI devices, industrial systems, and secure elements requiring long-term cryptographic resilience.
NIST finalized its first three post-quantum encryption standards in August 2024, and the White House issued its June 2026 action on advanced cryptographic attacks weeks before the design announcement. No customers, deployments, or independent benchmarks have been disclosed. The first test-chip shipment is the next on-the-record trigger.