Google’s Blockchain Shenanigans: Python, Payments, and Posh Institutions! 🕶️💸

by

Well, I say, old bean, Google Cloud has gone and done it! They’ve whipped up a spiffing new Layer-1 blockchain, what they’re calling the Google Cloud Universal Ledger (GCUL). Jolly good show, what? This little number is set to make digital payments as smooth as Jeeves’s manners for financial institutions and enterprises. At the moment, it’s all hush-hush in the private testnet, but mark my words, it’ll be out and about in the coming months, causing a bit of a stir. 🥳

Python in the Mix: Smart Contracts with a Twist of Lemon 🍋

On the 26th of August, no less, Google Cloud’s Web3 Head of Strategy, the chap known as Rich Widmann, let slip that they’re toiling away on this blockchain network. It’s in the private testnet phase, don’t you know, with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME Group) taking it for a spin. Top hole! 🧐

Now, as we’ve all been hearing, the chaps and chapesses at financial institutions are rather keen on faster and more transparent settlement systems. During this pilot phase, GCUL will be focusing on two rather trendy areas: tokenization and wholesale payments. Quite the buzzwords, eh? 💼✨

According to Widmann’s LinkedIn ramblings, GCUL was dreamed up to provide a “performant, credibly neutral” blockchain platform, particularly one that lets you fiddle about with Python-based smart contracts. Yes, Python! While the rest of the blockchain crowd is all about Solidity or Rust, Google’s gone and picked Python. Rather like choosing a cricket bat over a tennis racket, what? 🏏

This move, old sport, is all about making things easier for enterprise engineers who already know their way around Python. Lowering the barrier to entry, they call it. Quite the thoughtful gesture, if you ask me. Could be a game-changer for TradFi institutions dipping their toes into on-chain deployment. 🌊

Widmann described GCUL as a neutral infrastructure layer, while tossing in that it’s “besides bringing to bear Google’s distribution.” Quite the mouthful, that. 🗣️

Now, this L1 blockchain is a bit of an odd duck. As Widmann put it, “Tether won’t use Circle’s blockchain, and Adyen probably won’t use Stripe’s blockchain. But any financial institution can build with GCUL.” Rather inclusive, wouldn’t you say? 🎩

In a world where TradFi institutions are tiptoeing into crypto, Google Cloud has taken a bold leap into the blockchain infrastructure sector. Meanwhile, Wall Street firms have been making rather splashy moves, building their corporate treasuries with cryptocurrencies. Quite the carry-on! 💼💰

Institutions and Crypto: A Match Made in Mayfair 💍

In July, the Nasdaq-listed Upexi Inc. announced a $500 million equity line agreement with A.G.P./Alliance Global Partners, aiming to beef up its Solana treasury strategy. Rather ambitious, what? This lets them issue shares at their leisure, though there are a few hoops to jump through. The proceeds are for general corporate purposes and, of course, their Solana shenanigans. 🌐

Meanwhile, BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) has cemented its position as the world’s largest Ethereum treasury, boasting crypto holdings of $6.612 billion. Not too shabby, eh? 🤑

And in August, the State of Michigan Retirement System tripled its stake in the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB), boosting its holdings from 100,000 to 300,000 shares. Quite the vote of confidence in Bitcoin, even with the market doing its little dip. 🌊📈

Read More

2025-08-27 15:40