Google Signals Big Crypto Push With Ethereum, Solana Support

Google Cloud has trumpeted a series of collaborations with popular blockchain networks Ethereum and Solana in recent weeks, accelerating the tech giant’s support for Web3.

Late last month, Google Cloud announced a node hosting service for Web3 developers called Blockchain Node Engine. The tool is designed to help build and deploy on blockchain-based applications and platforms.

Ethereum is the first blockchain supported by the engine. Rival network Solana is to follow soon, per a tweet over the weekend. The post sparked a nearly 20% rally for the network’s original token, though it has since given up most of those gains.

“Web3 companies that need dedicated nodes can relay transactions, deploy smart contracts and read or write blockchain data with the reliability, performance and security they expect from Google Cloud computing and network infrastructure,” Google Cloud executives Amit Zavery and James Tromans said in a statement .

During this weekend’s Breakpoint 2022 conference in Lisbon, an event hosted by the Solana Foundation, Google’s Web3 head Nalin Mittal explained that Google has really stepped up its investment in the Web3 space through 2022. This has culminated in the formation of a dedicated Web3 team at Google Cloud.

“This is like a natural evolution for us because we saw many of our financial services crypto-native gaming customers doing more and more blockchain-related workloads on [Google Cloud] and it was clear that a dedicated product suite for Web3 would serve them better, Mittal said.

Indeed, The Big G has been busy supporting crypto-native companies. Google parent Alphabet participated in four funding rounds in blockchain firms between September 2021 and June 2022, including crypto conglomerate Digital Currency Group and Dapper Labs, the Web3 startup behind NBA Top Shot.

Google Cloud runs validators on Solana, along with other blockchains

This weekend, Google Cloud tweeted to confirm that it is participating in the Solana consensus by running one validatora special type of server node that processes transactions by adding blocks to the network’s chain.

But it’s not the first time Google has chosen a blockchain network. It began operating its first validator for the proof-of-stake network Hedera Hashgraph in 2020. According to Mittal, the cloud unit now operates validators for much of the top [layer-1] protocols.”

“We recognize how active and passionate [the Solana] community is, and we want to make that a top priority for Google Cloud,” Mittal said. Google Cloud will soon accept crypto payments for certain customers via a partnership with Coinbase announced last month.

Google Cloud’s move to Web3 infrastructure mirrors Amazon’s offering, Managed Blockchain, which has supported Ethereum nodes-as-a-service since last year.

While Solana is known for its cheap and fast transactions, the network has suffered a bumpy road with five major outages this year alone. Still, the network remains among the most functional protocols in the Web3 ecosystem today, according to James Wo, CEO of investment firm DFG.

“Solana has a very robust cluster of DApps, NFTs and smart contracts running on it, which accounts for what Google Cloud needs to build a robust portfolio of innovative and futuristic Web3 applications,” Wo told Blockworks.

“The embrace of Solana by Google Cloud is just another way to deepen its footprint, as it has entered into related agreements with other Web3 projects, including NEAR, Hedera and Aptos, among others.”

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