(Kitco News) - Google and Coinbase have announced a new Web3 strategic partnership that includes the ability for certain customers to pay for cloud services using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum beginning in 2023.
Coinbase Commerce will be used to process the payments, while Coinbase Prime will be utilized by Google for institutional crypto services, like secure custody and reporting.
When the crypto payments launch, only a select group of clients that are already active in Web3 will have access, but over time, the service will be offered to more customers.
According to a press release that accompanied the announcement, “The collaboration will involve Coinbase selecting Google Cloud as a strategic cloud provider to build advanced exchange and data services.”
Coinbase will build its global data platform on Google Cloud's secure infrastructure and leverage its data and analytics technologies to provide Coinbase customers with machine learning-driven crypto insights.
Web3 developers will also be able to access Google Cloud’s blockchain data through BigQuery, which will be made possible thanks to Coinbase Cloud’s Node service. According to a blog from Coinbase, “The integration will allow developers to instantly and reliably operate Web3-based systems without the need for expensive and complex infrastructure.”
The collaboration will also allow Coinbase to use Google Cloud’s compute platform to process blockchain data at scale and expand the reach of its crypto services through the utilization of Google’s fiber-optic network.
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Google will benefit from the partnership by having some of Coinbase’s data-related applications transferred from Amazon Web Services over to Google Cloud.
"We want to make building in Web3 faster and easier, and this partnership with Coinbase helps developers get one step closer to that goal," said Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud. “Our focus is making it frictionless for all customers to take advantage of our scalability, reliability, security, and data services, so they can focus on innovation in the Web3 space.”
Google has slowly been showing more interest in blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies as of late. Leading into the Ethereum Merge – which transitioned the smart contract platform to proof of stake – Google provided a countdown to the event. More recently, researchers have noticed that if you enter an Ethereum address in a Google Search, the search engine now shows the wallet’s ETH balance using data pulled from Etherscan.
