QuFi Network Appoints James Haft as CEO to Accelerate Institutional Adoption and Global Expansion of Post-Quantum Verification Infrastructure

Veteran capital markets executive and digital asset entrepreneur to lead QuFi's next phase of institutional growth, strategic partnerships, and global expansion

HONG KONG, October 19, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- QuFi Network, the verification layer for the post-quantum economy, today announced the appointment of James Haft as Chief Executive Officer of QuFi Network and Managing Director of the QuFi Foundation.

Haft will lead the company's next phase of growth, focusing on institutional adoption, strategic partnerships, ecosystem expansion, capital markets engagement, and the commercialization of post-quantum verification infrastructure across financial services, digital assets, and enterprise applications.

Haft brings more than 35 years of experience spanning investment banking, global capital markets, emerging technologies, and digital assets. His appointment marks a significant milestone for QuFi as the company moves from technology development and validation toward commercial deployment and engagement with financial institutions, enterprise organizations, infrastructure providers, and the global digital asset ecosystem.

The appointment follows QuFi's successful September 4, 2026 demonstration of its decentralized post-quantum verification layer on Bitcoin Testnet4. With its technical foundation established, QuFi is now focused on building the institutional relationships, commercial partnerships, and distributed validator ecosystem required to bring post-quantum verification infrastructure to market at scale.


A NEW LEADERSHIP CHAPTER FOR QUFI

Haft joins QuFi at a pivotal stage in the company's development, bringing extensive experience across traditional finance, digital assets, and emerging technology businesses.

Haft's career has spanned both traditional capital markets and the digital asset ecosystem, giving him a dual perspective on how established financial institutions and emerging blockchain infrastructure can converge. His experience building and advising businesses across market cycles positions him to guide QuFi through its transition from technical validation to commercial deployment.

At QuFi, Haft will lead the organization's commercial strategy and institutional engagement as it develops its network, expands its partnership ecosystem, and pursues adoption across financial services, digital assets, enterprise infrastructure, and tokenized economies.

His appointment reflects QuFi's ambition to establish post-quantum verification as a distinct infrastructure category within global financial and digital asset markets.

"QuFi has developed infrastructure designed to address a challenge that will become increasingly important to financial institutions, digital asset platforms, and enterprises worldwide. Our focus now is building the institutional relationships, strategic partnerships, validator ecosystem, and commercial opportunities required to establish QuFi as foundational infrastructure for the post-quantum economy. By separating verification from settlement, we can pursue quantum-resistant security while allowing organizations to preserve existing infrastructure investments."

— James Haft, Chief Executive Officer, QuFi Network; Managing Director, QuFi Foundation


FROM TECHNICAL VALIDATION TO INSTITUTIONAL ADOPTION

QuFi’s September 2026 network demonstration marked an important milestone in the development of its verification infrastructure.

The demonstration featured uBTC, a proof-of-concept digital asset illustrating how post-quantum verification can operate alongside existing blockchain settlement infrastructure without requiring modifications to Bitcoin's native consensus protocol.

QuFi's architecture separates cryptographic verification from the underlying settlement layer. This approach is designed to allow transactions, authorizations, and digital asset operations to receive additional cryptographic assurance before value moves, without requiring organizations to replace their existing blockchain networks or rebuild established financial systems.

As quantum computing advances, the long-term security of the cryptographic systems underpinning digital identities, financial transactions, and digital assets is becoming an increasingly important consideration for the industry. At the same time, post-quantum cryptographic signatures can be substantially larger than the cryptographic standards widely used today, creating potential scalability, storage, and efficiency challenges for existing blockchain and distributed ledger systems. QuFi's architecture addresses these challenges by separating verification from settlement, allowing quantum-resistant assurance to be delivered without requiring every transaction and every network to independently absorb the full verification burden.

QuFi is developing infrastructure intended to address these challenges through a distributed verification network utilizing NIST-standardized post-quantum cryptographic algorithms.

"Post-quantum cryptography presents both security and scalability challenges. Our objective has always been to introduce post-quantum verification without requiring fundamental changes to existing settlement networks. By separating verification from settlement, QuFi enables stronger cryptographic assurance while preserving the efficiency and interoperability that institutions depend upon today."

— Dr. Alexander Reay, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, QuFi Network

"QuFi is entering an important new phase. With the technology foundation established, our focus now shifts to adoption, partnerships, and scale. James brings decades of experience across capital markets, digital assets, and emerging technologies, together with the strategic relationships needed to accelerate institutional engagement and global expansion."

— Samson Lee, Co-Founder, QuFi Network


BUILDING THE INSTITUTIONAL AND COMMERCIAL ECOSYSTEM

Under Haft's leadership, QuFi will prioritize five areas of development:

- Institutional Adoption: Engaging financial institutions, custodians, digital asset businesses, and enterprise organizations exploring post-quantum security.

- Strategic Partnerships: Developing relationships with blockchain ecosystems, infrastructure providers, technology companies, and financial services organizations.

- Network Expansion: Growing the distributed validator ecosystem through QuFi's Genesis Node Program and strategic infrastructure partnerships.

- Enterprise Deployment: Advancing commercial applications for cryptographic verification, transaction authorization, digital asset security, and verifiable evidence.

- Global Market Development: Expanding QuFi's institutional relationships, investor engagement, and commercial presence across international markets.

As part of its network expansion strategy, QuFi continues to onboard participants through its Genesis Node Program, establishing the foundation of a decentralized verification network designed to support future enterprise and institutional adoption.

The company is also pursuing opportunities to integrate its verification capabilities into existing digital asset and enterprise workflows, with the objective of making post-quantum verification available without requiring wholesale replacement of established settlement infrastructure.


AN EXECUTIVE TEAM SPANNING FINANCE, SECURITY AND TECHNOLOGY

Haft will work alongside a leadership team combining expertise spanning global capital markets, enterprise strategy, cryptography, cybersecurity, digital assets, advanced mathematics, aerospace, and distributed systems infrastructure, positioning QuFi to support adoption across both traditional financial markets and digital asset ecosystems.

The leadership team includes:

James Haft — Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Alexander Reay — Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer
Samson Lee — Co-Founder
Eric Benz — Co-Founder and Chief Ecosystem Officer
Samuel Reid — Chief Security Officer

Samuel Reid, Chief Security Officer, leads QuFi's post-quantum security architecture, validator security framework, threat intelligence initiatives, and protocol resilience strategy. His experience across advanced technology, distributed systems, aerospace innovation, and security architecture supports QuFi's commitment to institutional-grade security and operational resilience.

Together, the team will focus on translating QuFi's technical capabilities into practical applications and commercial opportunities across the digital economy.


ABOUT JAMES HAFT

James Haft is an investment banking executive, entrepreneur, and industry leader with more than 35 years of experience across global capital markets, emerging markets, blockchain infrastructure, and decentralized finance.

He served as a Managing Director at Bear Stearns, Furman Selz, and ING Barings, where he focused on emerging markets. In 1996, he founded PALcapital LLC, a merchant bank focused on digital enterprise and blockchain opportunities, and continues to serve as its Chairman. He co-founded CryptoMondays in 2017, scaling the global blockchain education and networking platform to more than 70 cities worldwide. In 2021, he served as Founding Chairman of the first publicly listed Web3 company on the Oslo Stock Exchange (DLTx). He is also a co-founder of the Decentralized AI Society (DAIS.global) and serves as an Independent Director and Nominating Committee member on the board of BNB Plus Corp. (NASDAQ: BNBX), effective February 2, 2026.

Haft holds a dual JD/MBA from Emory University and an AB in Economics and Art History from Vassar College.

As CEO of QuFi Network and Managing Director of the QuFi Foundation, he leads the organization's next stage of development, with a focus on institutional adoption, strategic partnerships, ecosystem expansion, and global commercial growth.


ABOUT QUFI NETWORK

QuFi Network is developing verification infrastructure for the post-quantum economy.

The network is designed to provide quantum-resistant cryptographic verification independently of existing settlement systems, helping organizations strengthen the security of digital assets, identities, transactions, and authorizations while preserving established infrastructure.

QuFi's architecture incorporates NIST-standardized post-quantum cryptographic algorithms, including ML-DSA-65 (FIPS 204), SLH-DSA (FIPS 205), and ML-KEM-1024 (FIPS 203). Its objective is to support a distributed verification network capable of delivering cryptographic assurance across blockchain ecosystems and enterprise applications.

In September 2026, QuFi demonstrated its approach on Bitcoin Testnet4 through uBTC, a proof-of-concept digital asset illustrating post-quantum verification alongside existing blockchain settlement infrastructure.

QuFi is now focused on expanding institutional adoption, strategic partnerships, enterprise applications, and validator participation as it advances toward large-scale commercial deployment.

For more information, visit https://qufi.network.


SUPPORTING RESOURCES

Information regarding QuFi's technology, Bitcoin Testnet4 demonstration, uBTC, Genesis Node Program, partnership opportunities, and technical documentation is available at:

https://qufi.network/dataroom/


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