🚀 Google’s launching its own L1
Imagine an old-fashioned kinda guy. Y’know, the type that still reads actual newspapers, prefers cable TV over Netflix, and genuinely believes cash is superior to cards in every way.
That’d be my uncle Roy. And for the longest time ever, he simply refused to get a smartphone.
Which isn’t bad, but my boy used to study and memorize physical maps before going on road trips. Also nothing bad, but when you know how much easier GPS makes life, watching this felt borderline insane.
But Roy eventually gave in. Visit him today and you’ll probably find him playing Candy Crush.
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Corporations are having their own Unc Roy moment with blockchain technology. After spending years being skeptical, they’re now jumping in headfirst.
First, we had Stripe announce it’s launching its own blockchain. Then Circle followed.
And now… drumroll please… Google Cloud’s launching its own Layer-1 blockchain called the Google Cloud Universal Ledger (GCUL).
(Quick side note: if you’re wondering why they’re building their own L1s instead of just using Ethereum L2 solutions, we actually broke that down here.)
According to Google Cloud’s head of Web3 strategy, Rich Widmann, GCUL will feature built-in finance tools, a native commercial bank, on-chain money handling, and Python-based smart contracts.
Now, none of these features are particularly groundbreaking on their own.
What is absolutely wild about this launch, though, is Google’s massive reach. Here’s the scale we’re talking about:
👉 Google Cloud is the third-largest cloud provider on the planet;
👉 It serves heavyweight clients across finance, retail, healthcare, and AI – like PayPal, CME Group, and Deutsche Bank;
👉 This infrastructure handles workloads for literally billions of people every single day.
And here’s the real kicker (which is where Widmann made a brilliant point): GCUL is designed as a neutral infrastructure layer.
Think about it: companies like Tether aren’t gonna build on Circle’s blockchain (competitive conflict), and companies like Adyen probably won’t touch Stripe’s platform (same reason).
But any financial institution can build with GCUL because Google isn’t directly competing with them.
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This neutrality is huge because it opens the door to way more adoption.
More adoption means more users getting familiar with crypto tools and services.
More users exploring the crypto ecosystem means… well, I think you know where this is going…
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Now you’re in the know. But think about your friends – they probably have no idea. I wonder who could fix that… 😃🫵 Spread the word and be the hero you know you are! |
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🍋 News drops you can’t miss
🤔 Leverage trading on OKX sounds intimidating until someone explains it properly. Not to flex, but we’ve done exactly that.
🤖 Anthropic says criminals are using its AI chatbot Claude to help with online scams. The scammers aren’t just getting technical advice – they’re also using Claude to emotionally manipulate victims.
🇬🇧 A UK survey found that 27% of adults would consider adding crypto to their retirement savings. Over 40% of them said they’re mainly interested because of the potential for bigger returns.
🏦 VanEck’s CEO Jan van Eck believes Ethereum is the best choice to drive blockchain adoption in banking. He says banks will need to use some blockchain for stablecoin transactions, and he’s betting on Ethereum to be that platform.
⚖️ A law firm called Fenwick & West is asking a Florida judge to stop people from updating a lawsuit that accuses them of helping cause the FTX collapse. The firm says they just did normal lawyer work and had no idea about any fraud.
