As Bloomberg reports, Google is considering launching a cryptocurrency storage service. The tech giant, which so far has not officially taken a position on the adoption of blockchain technology, is starting to get involved.
The process of building an experienced team
According to Bloomberg agency, Google is very seriously considering entering the crypto asset market. The goal of the company Alphabet, which manages the popular search engine, is to create digital cards on which users could store both Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies.
The proposals come in the wake of recent hires that have been made at Google. One of the newly hired employees is Arnold Goldberg – a former PayPal employee. He has taken the position of head of payments department. On the other hand, when asked about Google’s ties to the crypto community, CEO of commerce Bill Ready says that the company is paying attention to digital assets and intends to change with the evolving demand for them.
Moreover, an additional factor suggesting the introduction of new payment methodologies at the tech giant is the fact that it has established a partnership with the Coinbase exchange, as well as with companies involved in the development of payment services such as Bakkt and BitPay.
Opening up to a very broad market
If the above Bloomberg speculations prove to be true, the cryptocurrency market will automatically be opened to a gigantic influx of new users. This is supported by statistics. Google is a well-known search engine with 91% of the market share. The number of hits it recorded in 2020 exceeds 92 billion. Currently, the search engine processes 3.5 billion searches per day. As many as 63% of them are made via mobile devices. The most important statistic in terms of potential payments, however, is that 35% of product searches begin on Google. When you combine this with the potential introduction of Digital Cards, this could become a real milestone for global cryptocurrency adoption.
Bitcoin loses its dominance among crypto payment options
Although Bitcoin is the most important cryptocurrency and the Lightning Network continues to grow, the willingness of users to make payments through it is declining.
BitPay reports that Bitcoin’s share of cryptocurrency trading operations has declined from 92% to 65% in 2021. Ethereum came in second (15%), USDT (13%), and then the other altcoins led by Litecoin, Dogecoin and Shiba Inu (7%). Interestingly, Bitcoin has increased its share in payments for luxury goods. In 2020 it was 9%, to make the result already 31% a year later.
The main reason why many users do not want to get rid of the leading cryptocurrency is the rising inflation. Bitcoin is thus seen as a carrier of value that can withstand economic turbulence.
