Google Cloud dedicates new team to boost blockchain efforts | ZDNet

Google Cloud is getting serious about cryptocurrency and is focusing on adding more blockchain applications to expand into even more industries. 

The tech giant said it’s adding a Digital Assets Team within its Cloud service that will “support customers’ needs in building, transacting, storing value, and deploying new products on blockchain-based platforms.” Google said it’s looking to help companies build a secure and sustainable infrastructure to scale. 

“As an infrastructure provider, Google Cloud views the evolution of blockchain technology and decentralized networks today as analogous to the rise of open source and the internet 10-15 years ago,” wrote Yolande Piazza, Vice President of Financial Services at Google Cloud, in the company’s blog post. 

“Just as open-source developments were integral to the early days of the internet, blockchain is yielding innovation and value creation for consumers and businesses. As the technology becomes more mainstream, companies will need scalable, secure infrastructure on which to grow their businesses and support their networks.”

The new Digital Assets Team will focus on various things relating to building out a stable blockchain infrastructure. These include allowing users to deploy blockchain validators on Google Cloud with a single click and helping developers and users host their nodes on the cloud. In addition, Google plans to host several public datasets on Marketplace, including blockchain transaction history for popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polygon, and Dogecoin.

Google added that it is currently exploring enabling Cloud customers to make and receive payments using cryptocurrencies. Blockchain companies like Labs, Hedera, and Theta Labs already use Google Cloud services for scalability and security. 

While this is the first move towards blockchain Google Cloud has made, Google itself has been making blockchain moves for a while now. For example, Google entered separate partnerships with Coinbase and Bakkt last year to allow customers to use cryptocurrency through Google Pay. 

More and more tech companies are looking to expand their crypto offerings as the market grows and becomes more popular. As a result, experts predict that 90% of the global population will adopt cryptocurrencies over the next 10 years. In just the past few years alone, the cryptocurrency market has grown from $1.44 billion in 2020 to $1.63 billion in 2021.