Google, the internet giant, has announced that they will begin pushing further into web3 with their own Blockchain Node Engine which will help a large majority of developers create their own decentralized protocols and projects without being burdened by infrastructure challenges. 

The pivot towards blockchain technology follows a trend that is being pushed by social media companies such as Meta, Twitter, and Reddit who have all begun adopting the technology themselves over the course of 2022. 

What is Google doing

The Blockchain Node Engine is a node hosting service that will allow developers and engineers to deploy a node without requiring a full DevOps team to manage and maintain it. 

The Blockchain Node Engine is incredibly beneficial because manually deploying a node can be an extremely time consuming process which takes away from the initial focus that many protocols need in order to fulfill their roadmap and acquire the critical-mass adoption that is necessary for survival. 

In their announcement, Google has stated that they will begin hosting node services with Ethereum first because it is the largest and most adopted blockchain after the bitcoin network which has less utilities available for developers. 

Google has also announced that they will offer their node hosting service for the Solana blockchain as well; and while the Solana network has been losing its value over the course of 2022, there are still a lot of developers attracted to the network due to it’s high-transaction speed and low gas fees. 

Why nodes are important for decentralization

In order for a decentralized network to grow and become valuable, it is necessary for more and more nodes to join the network. These nodes can be run off of simple laptops, desktops, and even large servers, so long as they are online 24/7. 

Deploying a node requires a device to download the entire data from a blockchain, going back as far as the original genesis blockchain. This process can take days because there is so much data involved and only becomes more difficult as time goes on and the blockchain increases in size. 

With every new node added, a blockchain network becomes more decentralized because a new peer has entered the network to provide service. However, unlike validators, these nodes are not meant to handle transactions, but rather to keep records of the network’s blockchain and accept broadcasts that keep it up-to-date. 

Google Cloud will begin accepting crypto

The news about Google’s new Blockchain Node Engine comes about a month after they announced their partnership with Coinbase which allows the popular crypto exchange to utilize many of Google’s resources to provide better services to Coinbase customers. 

Following Coinbase’s recent partnership with BlackRock, the ability to partner up with Google means that they will be able to provide major companies around the world with crypto integration through their advanced infrastructure. 

Coinbase will also be able to provide deeper insights to customers about their crypto with the use of machine-learning algorithms and data analytics provided by Google. With these types of partnerships backing Google and their new Blockchain Node Engine, the potential for crypto going forward could be exponential.