Quantum Leap: IBM and Maersk Partner on Blockchain and Eye Quantum-Secure Supply Chains
January 22, 201
Global Logistics Gets a Security Upgrade
In January 2018, the global logistics industry took a decisive step toward modernization. IBM and shipping giant Maersk officially launched TradeLens, a blockchain-based platform aimed at digitizing global trade. Designed to increase transparency and efficiency across supply chains, the system was positioned as a long-awaited solution to the paper-based, fragmented nature of international shipping logistics.
Yet behind the scenes, IBM was already looking a step further: How would this new digital foundation hold up in a future where quantum computers could potentially break classical encryption methods?
The answer: quantum-secure infrastructure.
With quantum computing advancing rapidly in research labs and early-stage hardware maturing, IBM began exploring how to future-proof TradeLens and other logistics systems using post-quantum cryptography (PQC). The convergence of these technologies—blockchain, logistics, and quantum-secure systems—started to crystallize in early 2018.
TradeLens: The First Wave of Digitized Logistics
Announced formally on January 16, 2018, the IBM-Maersk partnership introduced TradeLens as a distributed ledger-based platform for end-to-end supply chain visibility. It enabled:
Real-time shipment tracking
Tamper-proof documentation
Digitally verifiable customs processing
Automated smart contracts between freight companies, port authorities, and customs agencies
Within days of its announcement, the platform had onboarded more than 90 organizations, including major port operators in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. This rapid adoption signaled a shift in the logistics world toward unified digital infrastructure.
But as more stakeholders moved sensitive data—such as bills of lading, container manifests, and customs clearances—into the blockchain, new questions emerged: Was this data safe from future quantum decryption? Would today’s cryptographic protocols withstand tomorrow’s quantum threats?
IBM Begins Quantum-Safe Research for Logistics
At its IBM Research division in Yorktown Heights, New York, scientists in January 2018 expanded their focus on quantum-safe cryptography, especially in contexts such as financial transactions and logistics documentation.
A whitepaper published by IBM that month, titled "Securing the Future: Quantum-Safe Cryptography for Blockchain Networks", highlighted the emerging risk: Shor’s algorithm, running on a sufficiently powerful quantum computer, could break RSA and elliptic-curve cryptography (ECC), both commonly used in blockchain signatures.
IBM’s early research tested quantum-resistant cryptographic primitives—including:
Lattice-based encryption
Hash-based signatures
Code-based systems
These were being considered for future iterations of blockchain frameworks like Hyperledger Fabric, the foundation on which TradeLens was built.
By January 2018, IBM engineers had already begun internal experiments on how quantum-safe algorithms could be integrated into supply chain smart contracts, ensuring that contracts executed across ports and logistics hubs could remain secure—even in a post-quantum world.
NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography Competition Heats Up
Another important event occurred in January 2018 that would shape the logistics world indirectly: the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released an initial review of submissions for its Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization project.
Over 60 cryptographic algorithms were under evaluation to eventually become national standards for securing data in the quantum era. Among the frontrunners were:
CRYSTALS-Kyber (lattice-based encryption)
SPHINCS+ (hash-based signatures)
BIKE and NTRUEncrypt
For global logistics platforms like TradeLens—which already handled millions of sensitive transactions—the direction of NIST’s research mattered immensely.
IBM, Google, Microsoft, and other major players involved in supply chain infrastructure contributed submissions or research to the NIST process. Their influence ensured that future-ready encryption standards would be applicable to high-throughput, latency-sensitive applications like global freight tracking.
Maersk Looks to the Future: Quantum Risk in Maritime Logistics
Although Maersk’s focus in January 2018 remained firmly on the blockchain rollout, its cybersecurity team, still reeling from the devastating 2017 NotPetya cyberattack, expressed interest in next-generation threat models, including quantum decryption.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos (January 23–26, 2018), Maersk’s CTO Adam Banks spoke publicly about the urgent need for resilience in global shipping infrastructure. While he didn’t specifically name quantum computing, his remarks about “ensuring infrastructure that withstands future disruption models” were taken by observers to signal openness to post-quantum security paradigms.
Indeed, IBM and Maersk's partnership extended beyond software to include joint workshops on secure IoT infrastructure—with theoretical sessions on how quantum computing might one day enable port automation attacks, shipment routing hacks, or falsified customs signatures.
International Implications: A Global Quantum-Security Push
The implications of these moves were global.
Europe
The European Union’s Digital Single Market strategy, which included blockchain-based customs and logistics modernization, also began exploratory workshops on quantum-safe cryptographic requirements in early 2018.
The Netherlands’ Port of Rotterdam, a Maersk customer and one of Europe’s most automated ports, issued an internal cybersecurity memo in January 2018 that referenced long-term planning around quantum risk, particularly for automated freight clearance systems.
Asia
In Singapore, a growing logistics hub, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) engaged IBM Research Asia-Pacific to explore quantum-safe digital trade corridors.
Meanwhile, China’s Alibaba Group, through its DAMO Academy, released a quantum computing research update that same month, outlining possible implications for eCommerce logistics and suggesting that quantum-resistant protocols would be needed for China’s cross-border fulfillment operations by the late 2020s.
Blockchain and Quantum: A Complementary Evolution?
While some analysts saw quantum computing as a threat to blockchain, IBM’s view was more nuanced: Quantum-safe blockchain can actually strengthen digital logistics, especially if developed proactively.
A January 2018 joint blog post by Jerry Cuomo, IBM Fellow and blockchain VP, emphasized that:
“We see the convergence of blockchain and quantum-safe cryptography as a necessary milestone in the evolution of global digital infrastructure.”
This view began to influence partners across the TradeLens ecosystem. Logistics providers, insurers, customs authorities, and port operators began asking deeper questions:
How are our smart contracts signed and validated?
Can data recorded today be decrypted in 10 years by adversaries?
Will post-quantum security slow down high-frequency port operations?
Such questions reflected a growing maturity in how the logistics world was evaluating risk—not just operational but cryptographic.
Outlook: The Foundations of Quantum-Safe Logistics
By the end of January 2018, it was clear that the future of logistics security would be shaped as much by quantum computing as by AI or automation.
The IBM–Maersk blockchain launch was more than a digital milestone; it was the beginning of a global shift toward secure, scalable, and quantum-resistant infrastructure for the movement of goods.
Whether for trade routes crossing the Arctic, autonomous ports in Asia, or smart warehouses in the U.S., quantum-safe logistics systems will be essential in ensuring that global supply chains remain not just efficient, but trusted.
Conclusion: Preparing Global Trade for the Quantum Era
The events of January 2018 demonstrated that logistics players were no longer content to play catch-up with cybersecurity threats—they were preparing for what’s next. As IBM fused blockchain with post-quantum research and Maersk pushed for digitally verifiable trade flows, the groundwork was laid for a quantum-resilient logistics ecosystem.
While quantum hardware remains experimental, the steps taken this month—from cryptographic design to infrastructure planning—showed a strategic understanding: quantum computing is not just a threat, but also a catalyst for innovation in global logistics security.