Google Cloud forming unit for building Web3 developer tools

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Subsidiaries under Alphabet, the parent company of Google, are turning up the notch on the company’s exploration of the digital currency market. Google Cloud, the unit of the company in charge of cloud computing and storage, has set up a dedicated Web3 team.

According to an email circulated to employees of the unit reported by CNBC, Google Cloud aims to become the first choice platform for developers in the blockchain space. In the email, Amit Zavery, vice president at Google Cloud, said that the team had been necessitated by high demand and tremendous market potential for Web3 services. 

“While the world is still early in its embrace of Web3, it is a market that is already demonstrating tremendous potential with many customers asking us to increase our support for Web3 and Crypto-related technologies,” he wrote.

The new unit will be tasked with building services and tools for blockchain application developers. These tools will include back-end services that allow Web3 applications to manage blockchain nodes better and explore blockchain data in third-party applications.

The announcement is coming after the Google subsidiary revealed that it was hiring blockchain experts to fill multiple roles, CNBC also reports. At the time, it was also speculated that Google Cloud would also accept digital currencies as payment in the future.

However, Google Cloud still maintains its parent company’s reservations concerning digital currencies. Zavery clarified in an interview with CNBC that the tech giant is “not trying to be part of that cryptocurrency wave directly.” But only looking to provide companies with technology that will help take advantage of decentralization.

Google’s competitors are also embracing blockchain

Google has not been the only tech giant seeking business from companies in the blockchain space. Amazon and Microsoft, two of Google’s biggest competitors in several services, have also been opening up to blockchain technology.

In 2021, Amazon disclosed that it was looking to hire a digital currency lead. The qualifications for the role included expertise in blockchain, distributed ledger, and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy recently stated that Amazon sees a lot of potential in the digital assets industry and the non-fungible token (NFT) space.

Similarly, Microsoft also received a patent it filed for a ledger independent token service. However, neither of the tech behemoths is considering accepting digital currencies as a form of payment.

Watch: CoinGeek New York panel, A Better Internet Experience using Blockchain