Coinbase Global, a cryptocurrency exchange provider, recently announced a relationship with Google and its parent company, Alphabet. Google announced that they will accept cryptocurrency payments as part of a new Coinbase partnership. This is a two-way street, with both companies making a significant commitment to the other. Coinbase is also transitioning its cloud-based operations from Amazon Web Services (AWS) to Google Cloud. In exchange, Google Cloud and their clients will be enabled to process cryptocurrency payments through Coinbase.
This Google-Coinbase deal is a win-win situation, with the global community of crypto-focused developers benefiting the most. We’re excited to see these two firms take this important step together. Here’s what this means for stakeholders on both sides of the deal.
What Will Google and Coinbase Partnership Entail?
Google’s cloud computing business is critical to its long-term success. The sector is constantly expanding, is very profitable, and enables Google to expand their revenue steams and not just focus on marketing revenue. This agreement with Coinbase enables Google to fill a market gap by allowing crypto companies to pay for cloud storage with digital currency. There are no significant competitors who allow companies to current do this with cryptocurrency.
This is significant because the core idea underlying many Web3 and crypto businesses is a desire to move aside from using fiat currency such as the US dollar. Many of these companies would prefer to use solutions that accept cryptocurrency payments if they had the option, but until now, they simply did not exist on a large enough scale right now.
Will This Partnership Work?
To begin, the offer will be limited between Google and Coinbase and Google intends to provide the service to a limited number of Web3 clients, with payments handled by Coinbase Commerce. This system accepts ten digital currencies, including the usual suspects like Bitcoin cash, Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin.
As a result, this partnership enables Google to create an offering they currently do not have, which will broaden their consumer base and diversify their revenue streams. Coinbase will charge a percentage of the fees that pass through their platform which will also increase their B2B revenue aside from their typical income from retail trading costs.
Coinbase Commerce works like any other payment provider, such as Amazon Pay, Apple Pay, and even Visa and Mastercard. These networks operate by charging a small fee for processing the transaction. The only difference is that these payments are made in crypto rather than fiat currency.
Why is This Arrangement Significant for Google?
After everything is said and done, Coinbase will have earned a new revenue stream since cryptocurrency-based payments for Google Cloud services will be routed through Coinbase for a fee. Simultaneously, Google Cloud took another step into the world of blockchain ledgers and cryptocurrencies, opening the way for a complete Web 3.0 experience.
This is a significant advancement for Web 3.0 and the future of the internet, and Google deserves credit for pioneering this venture. Google’s conglomerate revenue is fueled by the internet’s first two iterations, beginning with read-only web pages and progressing to social media dialogues. In these well-worn systems, Google assists users in finding the information they need while dually targeting those users with digital advertisements for products and services that are relevant to them.
Web 3.0, if completely achieved, could potentially mark the end of Google’s existing business model. Since blockchain systems are so adaptable, content creators will be able to take direct control of their ideas. Earning money from your articles, videos, games, and other media will be a much easier process. Intermediaries like Google’s AdSense service may eventually have a smaller role in monetizing original ideas, which in turn would affect Google’s primary revenue stream. A new type of Google crypto payments system will certainly emerge out of the Coinbase-Google deal.
How This Partnership Will Impact Future Cryptocurrency?
As part of their new collaboration, both Google and Coinbase have stated that they will consider how they can assist other organizations in managing their crypto portfolios and integrating cryptocurrency into their business models.
This is still a developing industry, but veteran Bitcoiners assume that over time, more and more businesses will hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets. So far, this strategy has been adopted by a small number of very large size corporations.
Traditional finance departments use trusted third parties to hold investments on behalf of a company. Companies such as Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon, have billions of dollars in cash available at any given time, which is stored in accounts with central banks such as Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, and Bank of America.
The problem for these businesses is determining how to store their assets. Businesses can trust that their assets and cash is safe because the aforementioned banking organizations are highly regulated. However with crypto, things become a little more complicated.
Digital currencies are, by definition, decentralized. This means there is so single entity or trustworthy party that is needed to support the transaction, and asset safety is solely the holder’s responsibility. There is a big potential to add a reliable third party into crypto storage, asset management and processing, similar to the deficit in payment processing that Google is trying to fill. It’s ironic, given that Bitcoin was invented to avoid exactly that. It is also very interesting that Coinbase already provides a very similar service through a program called Coinbase Prime, however they are trying to expand this with this new Google Partnership.
Conclusion
Undoubtedly, tech giants are becoming more interested in blockchain and Web3.0. Last year, Facebook rebranded itself Meta to capitalize on the benefits of the metaverse and offer the Facebook product under an umbrella with other tech products. They have even introduced the NFT capability to Facebook users. Microsoft is developing a decentralized data warehouse to further their Web 3.0 efforts. And now, Google and Coinbase have joined hands. The movement to adopt new technology is continuing at a rapid pace and is being implemented more frequently as it becomes more widely available.
The news that Google will accept cryptocurrency will be welcomed by small businesses and organizations. Many merchants and individual’s had invested in crypto during the last few years, during the pandemic. When Google begins to accept cryptocurrency, it will not only increase different coins value helping individuals, but it will enable businesses to utilize crypto for certain segments of their operation.
Small businesses make up the majority of the US economy. They generate a large amount of taxes for the government and also heavily contribute to the overall economic GDP. Unfortunately, in the crypto space, they have been ignored up until now. As Google will accept cryptocurrency after this announcement, even smaller merchants can benefit. The biggest challenge small business face is cash flow and revenue generation. With Google now accepting crypto payments from merchants and individuals, they are paving the way for digital currencies payment systems to be adopted by other large companies.
