The head of Google Cloud's Web3 strategy shared a message on LinkedIn, revealing new details about the layer-1 blockchain the company is developing - Google Cloud Universal Ledger (GCUL).
Rich Widmann described in the post that this blockchain is the result of years of R&D by Google, designed to be neutral and compatible with Python smart contracts.
Widmann stated that GCUL aims to provide an open infrastructure layer for financial institutions. He mentioned that Google's neutrality could drive broader adoption, as Tether and Adyen might not use competing blockchains.
Meanwhile, Circle and Stripe are also developing layer-1 blockchains. Circle recently launched Arc, a financial open network for stablecoins, while Stripe is collaborating with crypto venture firm Paradigm on a secret project codenamed Tempo.
A chart shared by Widmann shows that Stripe relies on its $1.4 trillion payment network, while Circle's Arc focuses on USDC. The Google Universal Ledger is expected to be a 'globally scalable' blockchain with billions of users and bank-grade functionality.
Google Cloud will announce more technical details in the coming months.
Since 2018, Google Cloud has been expanding its blockchain technology, initially adding Bitcoin data to its BigQuery data warehouse, and later supporting Ethereum and over a dozen other networks.
This update comes amid a wave of technology and fintech companies developing their own blockchains.
Plasma announced in February that it would build a layer-1 chain for USDt, while Robinhood launched tokenized US stocks and ETFs for its European customers in June and plans to migrate these tokens to its native layer-2 blockchain.