VANCOUVER, BC, January 21, 2026 -- BTQ Technologies Corp. ("BTQ" or the "Company"), a global quantum technology company focused on securing mission-critical networks, and the Industrial Technology Research Institute ("ITRI"), one of the world's leading applied research organizations, today announced a strategic collaboration in 2026 to jointly realize and validate BTQ's Quantum Compute In Memory ("QCIM") chip, a next-generation silicon platform designed to enable secure, scalable cryptographic computation for the post-quantum era.

Highlights

• Advances BTQ's QCIM program into early silicon validation, representing a key milestone toward commercialization.
• Leverages ITRI's applied research capabilities to evaluate feasibility, performance, and energy efficiency at the silicon level.
• Complements BTQ's separate collaboration with ICTK, a South Korea–based leader in hardware-level security technologies, which is focused on the development of a fully integrated, commercially deployable post-quantum chipset and its progression toward real-world validation and deployment.

ITRI, one of the world's most influential applied research institutions in semiconductor development, is widely recognized for its role in incubating and commercializing foundational chip technologies that have shaped the global semiconductor industry. This initiative builds on the long-standing collaboration between BTQ and ITRI, initiated in 2022, with a shared objective of advancing energy-efficient semiconductor technologies for post-quantum cryptography. The 2026 project represents a targeted next step focused on early validation of architectures combining advanced cryptography with emerging compute-in-memory semiconductor technology.

QCIM is designed to execute cryptographic workloads closer to where data is stored. In conventional architectures, data is repeatedly transferred between memory and compute, which can introduce power and performance constraints as security requirements increase. By validating compute-in-memory approaches for post-quantum cryptographic workloads at the silicon level, BTQ and ITRI seek to establish architectural benchmarks, reduce development risk, and support the foundation for scalable, quantum-secure hardware platforms.

Why this matters commercially

Silicon validation is a critical step in translating advanced cryptography research into deployable hardware. This collaboration is expected to produce silicon level benchmarks that can help:

• De risk key architecture choices earlier in the product cycle
• Accelerate engineering and integration decisions
• Support commercial discussions that require validated performance and power metrics
• Lay the groundwork for quantum-secure platforms intended for deployment in demanding environments

As governments and enterprises prepare for the disruptive impact of large-scale quantum computing, demand is increasing for quantum-resistant infrastructure that can be deployed broadly across devices and networks. QCIM is intended to support future applications across critical infrastructure, secure communications, financial systems, and edge computing environments where long term security, performance, and energy efficiency are paramount.

The collaboration with ITRI reflects BTQ's end to end commercialization strategy: validate core technology early, then accelerate full chipset realization and deployment through "Security requirements are rising quickly as governments and enterprises plan for the post-quantum era, but adoption depends on hardware that is practical, efficient, and ready to deploy," said Olivier Roussy Newton, CEO at BTQ Technologies. "This collaboration with ITRI is a meaningful step in moving QCIM from architecture to validated silicon. Early silicon results help de-risk the roadmap and support our commercialization efforts as we work toward quantum secure solutions that can perform in real-world environments."

"ITRI is pleased to expand our collaboration with BTQ to validate next-generation compute and security architectures at the silicon level," said Dr. Chih-Cheng Lu, Manager of ITRI's Electronic and Optoelectronic System Research Laboratories. "As quantum threats accelerate, this program addresses the high computational cost of post-quantum cryptography by evaluating the feasibility, performance, and energy efficiency of PQC workloads using compute-in-memory approaches."

BTQ previously announced a separate collaboration with ICTK, with ICTK focused on implementation of a complete, commercially deployable post-quantum cryptography functional chipset. That effort is centered on downstream execution, including system level integration, packaging, and readiness for volume deployment, translating post-quantum algorithms into production grade hardware solutions for real world applications.

As governments and enterprises prepare for the disruptive impact of large-scale quantum computing, demand for quantum-resistant infrastructure continues to accelerate. The QCIM initiative is intended to support future applications across critical infrastructure, secure communications, financial systems, and edge computing environments where performance, power efficiency, and long-term security are paramount.