The Web2 giant Google’s Web3 thinking is very clear: regardless of how this new field develops in the future, it still wants to be an infrastructure part of it. At the Mainnet 2022 crypto-summit, Google Cloud’s Web3 Lead Richard Widmann stated, “We’re a layer zero”, referring to cloud provision in the context of blockchain use cases.
Widmann revealed that he is working to “build a massive bridge” between Web3 companies and blockchain by providing node services through Google Cloud.
He described Google Cloud as a “concrete foundation”, and he does not want “only some people to have access to this foundation.”
The Head of Strategy for Digital Assets at Google Cloud distinguished Google’s vision from that of Avalanche Network, claiming that Avalanche Network is a layer one blockchain rather than a layer zero for crypto as some may believe.
“Any layer one protocol is running compute containers, generally on a cloud of some kind,” Widmann said. “Avalanche doesn’t have a cloud business. They run on data centers, just like every other layer one.”
This year, Google Cloud announced its Web 3.0 ambitions, stating that it wants to provide back-end services to developers interested in creating their own Web3 software. The Google Cloud Digital Assets Team was formed to expand the service across the blockchain.
Widmann reiterated that Google Cloud is chain-agnostic and that it wants layer-one protocols to compete or fill different niches on top of the Cloud.
In the blockchain space, “big players” are always controversial. And Richard Widmann mentioned how big tech companies like Amazon or Google may end up controlling the vast majority of blockchain nodes, defeating the purpose of decentralized technology.
“If everything is running on Google, I will be the first to say that is a problem, frankly,” he said.
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