Internet giant Google today said that it will use Coinbase to accept crypto payments for cloud services early next year, according to a report by CNBC.
Google announced the deal at this year’s Cloud Next, a conference where Google pitches its state-of-the-art cloud computing business (which accounts for nearly a tenth of its revenue) to companies.
Google Cloud will begin accepting crypto payments from a “handful” of customers through integration with Coinbase Commerce, a payments tool for businesses, according to Google Cloud Vice President and General Manager, Amit Zavery.
Coinbase Commerce is expected to move “data-related applications” from Amazon Web Services’ cloud to Google’s.
The terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but according to Jim Migdal, Vice President of business development at Coinbase, the deal will follow other Coinbase Commerce arrangements, earning Coinbase a cut of every transaction that goes through the system.
Coinbase Commerce currently supports ten cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and Tether.
CNBC also reported that there “wasn’t a guarantee” that Google would stick with Coinbase for payments processing, and there’s competition from a newly crypto-integrated PayPal business service.
For now, though, the San Francisco-based crypto exchange appears to be the top choice right now.
Google’s crypto ventures
Unlike Facebook, which rebranded to Meta last year, Google has played its cards close to its chest in the Web3 arms race, but recent reports indicate that the company’s somewhat cool early reception of cryptocurrencies is thawing.
Last month, Sky Mavis reached an agreement with Google Cloud enabling the tech giant’s cloud division to run a validator node on Ronin Network, an Ethereum sidechain set up by Axie Infinity creator Sky Mavis.
The move aims to further decentralize Ronin and enable Google to help secure the sidechain and process transactions. The Ronin bridge was exploited earlier this year in a historic $622 million theft.
Google also marked the countdown to Ethereum’s major upgrade last month—dubbed the merge—with a little graphic that appeared to anyone searching “Ethereum merge.” The gesture is slight, but speaks volumes about the level of recognition crypto is getting today.
A fortnight ago, Richard Widmann, Google’s head of strategy, Web3, and cloud, called his company a “layer zero” for blockchain and said the team is building a “giant bridge” for cross-chain interoperability.
Widmann also remarked that Google’s current ethos aligns with crypto’s core values of open-source development and decentralization.
