Stock Markets February 23, 2026

Reliance Global Rallies After Closing Acquisition of Quantum-Resistant Encryption Firm

EZRA gains in premarket trading as deal with Enquantum sets milestone path to majority control under Scale51 model

By Priya Menon EZRA
Reliance Global Rallies After Closing Acquisition of Quantum-Resistant Encryption Firm
EZRA

Shares of Reliance Global Group Inc (NASDAQ: EZRA) surged in premarket trading after the company completed the acquisition of Enquantum Ltd., a developer of hardware-accelerated, NIST-aligned post-quantum cryptography. The transaction is structured as a milestone-driven program intended to raise Reliance's stake to a 51% fully diluted controlling interest upon achievement and funding of specified operational and commercialization milestones.

Key Points

  • Reliance completed the acquisition of Enquantum, triggering a 28% premarket jump in EZRA shares and marking the first platform buy under the Scale51 model - impacts: cybersecurity, enterprise IT.
  • The deal uses milestone-based tranche investments that can raise Reliance's stake to a 51% fully diluted controlling interest upon achievement and funding of operational and commercialization milestones - impacts: corporate governance, investment structures.
  • Enquantum provides hardware-accelerated, NIST-aligned post-quantum cryptography engineered for terabit-scale, low-latency environments; the company received an FPGA-related patent in 2025 - impacts: hardware/semiconductor and encryption technology sectors.

Reliance Global Group Inc (NASDAQ:EZRA) saw its stock jump 28% in premarket trading on Monday after completing the acquisition of Enquantum Ltd., a company focused on post-quantum cryptographic solutions.

The transaction represents the first platform acquisition executed under Reliance's Scale51 operating model and establishes a staged path that could lead to majority ownership of Enquantum. As part of the agreement, Reliance took an initial equity position by converting a secured bridge note and made an additional cash investment as the first milestone payment.

The structure of the deal is based on milestone-driven tranche investments. These tranches are designed to increase Reliance's ownership to a 51% fully diluted controlling interest, contingent on the target meeting specified operational and commercialization milestones. Reliance has stated it expects to obtain majority governance rights once the agreed milestones are achieved and funded.

Enquantum's technology portfolio centers on hardware-accelerated, NIST-aligned post-quantum cryptographic solutions intended for high-throughput environments. The company's architecture is engineered to operate at terabit scale while avoiding degradation in latency. In 2025, Enquantum was granted a patent related to FPGA-based encrypted communications that employ quantum-resistant techniques.

The acquisition arrives amid warnings from security agencies and industry experts about "harvest now, decrypt later" strategies, in which encrypted data is captured now with the expectation it could be decrypted in the future by more advanced quantum systems. At the same time, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology is advancing post-quantum cryptographic standards to support what is described as a multi-year infrastructure upgrade cycle.

"We structured a milestone-driven acquisition pathway designed to culminate in majority control ownership, and today we executed Phase I," said Ezra Beyman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Reliance Global Group.

Reliance has highlighted the broader market context as well, noting projections that global cybersecurity spending could exceed $300 billion annually by 2029. The company views the shift toward quantum-resilient encryption as a potential structural change within the cybersecurity landscape.


While the transaction lays out a route to majority governance through staged investments tied to measurable goals, Reliance's ultimate control depends on future milestone achievements and associated funding.

Risks

  • Reliance's ability to obtain majority governance is contingent on achieving and funding specified operational and commercialization milestones; failure to meet these milestones would prevent the intended ownership increase - sector affected: corporate governance and investors.
  • The multi-year infrastructure upgrade cycle for post-quantum cryptography, as NIST advances standards, introduces timing and execution uncertainty for commercialization and adoption of Enquantum's solutions - sector affected: cybersecurity and enterprise IT.
  • The prevalence of "harvest now, decrypt later" strategies highlights ongoing security challenges and demand uncertainty; how rapidly customers move to quantum-resilient encryption could affect commercial outcomes for Enquantum's products - sector affected: cybersecurity and data protection markets.

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