Web2 behemoth Google trying to innovate for web3

Google says it wants to disrupt itself to serve the needs of the crypto community. Rather than trying to sell what it already offers to the industry, the search giant instead says it is trying to innovate.

"Can we add some new products to that suite that actually addresses the specific needs that the crypto community has [and] that maybe other companies will have in the future?" James Tromans, head of Google Cloud Platform for web3, said on The Scoop podcast with Frank Chaparro this week at Paris Blockchain Week, referring the the company's thinking on the matter. "But right now it's sort of the bleeding edge of where people are building."

"There's a lot of progress that we can still make, but there's a lot of opportunity," Tromans said.

Last year, the company launched Google Cloud’s Blockchain Node Engine to help web3 developers build and deploy new products on blockchain-based platforms, and it announced a cloud partnership with Coinbase.

"Google was interested in exploring what it means to take crypto for payment and continuing to commit ourselves and to really not just building these tools but using them ourselves as well," Tromans said. "The relationship was very multifaceted and we're looking forward to working with Coinbase as we go forward to flesh that out."

For more on Frank Chaparro's interview with Google's Tromans and Rich Widmann, head of strategy, web3 and Google Cloud, look for The Scoop podcast, which will be released on Saturday at 5 a.m. EDT.