Summary:
Dapper Labs, Hedera, and Theta Labs are among the blockchain startups that use Google Cloud. Google Cloud may accept cryptocurrency payments in the future. Decentralised finance to be implemented in the cryptocurrency business to bypass middlemen like banks and typical financial transactions. The company intends to hire a slew of blockchain experts. Google is considering what types of services it can provide directly to blockchain developers.
Details:
After a determined campaign in retail and other industries, Alphabet’s Google Cloud division is building a team to win blockchain business. Dapper Labs, Hedera, and Theta Labs are among the blockchain startups that use Google Cloud. Google Cloud may allow cryptocurrency payments in the future. On April 9 – 2019, Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian talks at the Google Cloud Next event in San Francisco.
Following efforts to expand in retail, health care, and other areas, Google’s cloud division has launched a group to build a company around blockchain applications. Success may enable Google to diversify away from advertising and become more dominant in the increasing market for computing and storage services offered from faraway third-party data centres. Blockchain proponents frequently discuss the creation of decentralised apps that eliminate the need for huge middlemen.
DeFi – decentralised finance, in particular, is a fast-emerging area of the crypto market that attempts to eliminate middlemen, like banks, from typical financial transactions, such as receiving a loan. Banks and attorneys are replaced with a programmable piece of code known as a smart contract in DeFi. This contract is published on a public blockchain, such as ethereum or Solana, and it executes when specific criteria are satisfied, eliminating the need for a central middleman.
DeFi – decentralised finance, in particular, is a fast-emerging area of the crypto market that attempts to eliminate middlemen, like banks, from typical financial transactions, such as receiving a loan. Banks and attorneys are replaced with a programmable piece of code known as a smart contract in DeFi. This contract is published on a public blockchain, such as ethereum or Solana, and it executes when specific criteria are satisfied, eliminating the need for a central middleman.
Today, Amazon, Google, and other cloud-computing firms exemplify a form of centralization by managing massive facilities that supply computer services to millions of consumers. That isn’t going to stop Google from trying to seize an opportunity. According to Richard Widmann, head of digital asset strategy at Google’s cloud section, the cloud company aims to employ a spate of experts with blockchain experience. “We believe that if we execute our duties well, it will lead to decentralisation,” he stated.
Google’s cloud marketplace already provides tools for developers to begin developing blockchain networks, and it has blockchain customers such as Dapper Labs, Hedera, and Theta Labs, as well as exchanges. Google also provides data sets that may be explored using the BigQuery tool to see bitcoin and other currency transaction history. According to Widmann, Google is now evaluating what sorts of services it may provide directly to blockchain developers. Widmann stated that there are “things we can do to lessen the frictions certain consumers have concerning paying for the centralised cloud using bitcoins.”
An eruption of crypto-interest.
According to him, foundations and other institutions involved in the creation of digital assets are mostly capitalised with cryptocurrencies. Google’s cloud CEO, Thomas Kurian, has named retail, health care, and three other industries as target markets. Google can assist clients in those industries as they choose to use blockchain technology, according to Widmann.
Other cloud providers have gotten interested in cryptocurrency as well, however, none other than Google has declared the formation of a blockchain business group.
According to technology industry analyst Gartner, Amazon Web Services dominated the cloud infrastructure market in 2020 with a 40.8 per cent share. In 2018, the company unveiled a managed blockchain service. Accenture, AT&T, and Nestle are listed as clients on the AWS website. Microsoft, which Gartner estimates will have a 19.7 per cent market share in 2020, launched a fully managed Azure Blockchain Service in 2019 but discontinued it in September, claiming “lowered demand” in a blog post. Smaller cloud providers are aware of the possibilities as well.
“We have a lot of blockchain and cryptocurrency users on the platform,” said Gabe Monroy, chief product officer of DigitalOcean, which caters to small and medium-sized organisations. “It was one of our most important cohort growth segments until 2021.” We’re keeping a close eye on the situation.” Companies that deal in cryptocurrencies are also beginning to appeal to software developers. Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange operator, has introduced a host of services under the label Coinbase Cloud, and the tools are described as being capable of running on numerous clouds. “This is sort of like our AWS for crypto,” Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said in November at the JPMorgan Crypto Economy Forum.
“We’re attempting to externalise some of the services we’ve had to develop.” A lot of hard engineering has gone into how we store crypto, integrate all the blockchains, monitor transactions for AML purposes, handle trading and staking, and so on.” Meanwhile, the founders of San Francisco start-up Alchemy told CNBC that they expect to be likened to Amazon Web Services in the blockchain space. Alchemy revealed in October that it had received $3.5 billion in venture finance.
Google has recently been more at ease in the blockchain realm. Bloomberg reported last week that company veteran Shivakumar Venkataraman had taken control of the new blockchain business. According to a spokeswoman, this company is distinct from the cloud team focused on digital assets. “We’re going to look to our left and right to see if there are chances to collaborate with them,” Widmann said of other Google efforts.
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki stated in a recent letter that the video service was influenced by Web3. “In the realm of crypto, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and even decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs), the last year has highlighted a previously imagined chance to expand the relationship between creators and their audience,” she said. In the third quarter, advertising accounted for around 82% of Alphabet’s revenue. Alphabet reported a $644 million operating loss on $4.99 billion in cloud sales, an almost 45% increase. According to Gartner, Google will have a 6.1% market share in 2020.
Credits: www.cnbc.com