A Public Company Steps Into Post-Quantum Territory
HYLQ Strategy Corp just made a notable move in the crypto space—buying 18.3 million qONE tokens for roughly $100,000. The purchase happened through a private deal with the Quantum Labs Foundation, settled in USDC at $0.006 per token. What makes this interesting is that HYLQ is only the second publicly traded company to put quantum-resistant crypto assets on its books.
The transaction plants HYLQ firmly in the Hyperliquid ecosystem, a fast-growing decentralized exchange known for deep liquidity and lightning-quick trades. For a CAD-listed company looking to diversify beyond mainstream crypto, it’s a strategic bet on infrastructure that’s designed to survive the arrival of powerful quantum computers.
qONE is the token behind qLABS, a foundation building tools that can withstand quantum attacks—the kind that could eventually crack today’s encryption methods. Since launching on Hyperliquid in early February 2026 at $0.010, qONE has climbed to around $0.01569, even after dipping slightly when news of HYLQ’s discounted purchase hit the market. Trading volume and order book depth have been improving steadily, suggesting traders are starting to take quantum-resistant narratives seriously.
HYLQ’s timing looks solid. The company’s share price is up 28.5% this year, sitting at CAD 0.90—well ahead of broader crypto stocks that have been dragged down by weakness in Bitcoin and Ethereum. CEO Matt Zahab pointed out that protecting crypto from quantum threats is becoming urgent, especially as experts keep narrowing their estimates for “Q-Day”—the moment quantum computers become powerful enough to break current encryption—to sometime in the early 2030s.
What HYLQ Gets Beyond a Balance Sheet Entry
Right now, the qONE purchase is just another line on HYLQ’s books. But it could become much more. Once qLABS turns on staking and governance features, token holders will be able to lock up their qONE to help secure the network and earn rewards tied to actual protocol activity—transaction fees, usage metrics, and how many tokens are staked. Because the yield isn’t fixed but floats with real demand, early institutional holders like HYLQ could end up with outsized influence and returns.
Governance will also be time- and activity-weighted, gradually shifting control from the founding team to the community as the protocol matures. For traditional investors, this creates an unusual opportunity: owning shares in HYLQ could eventually mean indirect voting power over a key piece of post-quantum security infrastructure. It’s a blend of old-school equity exposure and decentralized finance governance that doesn’t have many parallels yet.
The Trade-Off: Early Control for Long-Term Safety
qLABS is upfront about one thing—right now, the project is fairly centralized. Core products like the Quantum-Sig wallet and the Layer-1 Migration Toolkit are still being built, tested, and audited. The foundation argues that tight control at this stage is necessary and actually safer than rushing to decentralize before the tools are ready to protect billions of dollars from quantum attacks.
The plan is to hand off more decision-making power to the community once everything is live and secure. It’s a roadmap borrowed from successful Layer-2 projects that started centralized and opened up over time. Whether that transition happens smoothly will be critical to qONE’s long-term credibility.
Why This Matters Beyond One Token Purchase
Hyperliquid’s role as the launch platform for qONE is turning out to be a smart choice. Since a brutal liquidation event last October that wiped out $19 billion in notional value across the crypto market, Hyperliquid and its native HYPE token have largely avoided the broader downturn. HYPE recently touched highs near $30, and the exchange’s user base is growing. By launching on a platform that already attracts traders focused on advanced risk management, qONE immediately reaches an audience that understands why quantum resistance matters.
Analysts see a potential feedback loop forming. As more institutions look for ways to hedge against quantum threats, demand for tokens like qONE should rise. That improves liquidity, boosts staking yields, and strengthens the economic security of the post-quantum tools being built. If that cycle takes hold, HYLQ’s $100,000 bet could turn into a foundational stake in the infrastructure that protects the next generation of decentralized finance.
For now, it’s an early-stage play in a niche corner of crypto. But with quantum computing advancing faster than most people realize, bets on quantum-safe infrastructure might not stay niche for long.
