Google Cloud has unveiled its Web3 portal, which offers resources for blockchain developers that include datasets and tutorials on creating non-fungible tokens (NFTs). 

However, the reception within the cryptocurrency industry has been met with mixed opinions.

Some members of the crypto community expressed disappointment with the portal’s lack of native support for Bitcoin and Lightning Network. 

“No native Bitcoin and lightning support? Seems like an oversight to ignore the most important cryptocurrency,” Phil Geiger, the vice president of product marketing at Unchained, said in a post on X.

Similarly, a pseudonymous crypto trader named MartyParty shared his sentiment with his followers, claiming that Google is lagging behind in the industry.

Breaking: @Google @googlecloud launches a web3 portal and its pretty terrible.https://t.co/qVqPpPY7YEhttps://t.co/gl8wb5k4UX

Not impressed #Google is way behind. pic.twitter.com/CblunHTDQ1

— MartyParty (@martypartymusic) April 24, 2024

Some Welcome Google’s Web3 Portal

On the other hand, there were those who welcomed the launch of the Web3 portal. 

Ivaibi Festo, the founder of Mitroplus labs, referred to it as a “comprehensive resource” in a post on X, implying their positive perception of the platform.

The Web3 portal offers developers access to various products and provides testnet tokens for deploying and testing decentralized applications (DApps) on Ethereum testnets such as Sepolia and Holesky. 

Additionally, the platform offers a learning program with tutorials on developing NFTs, implementing Web3 loyalty programs, and securing digital assets with multi-party computation (MPC).

Google has been making strides in the Web3 industry with recent developments. 

Notably, users can now search wallet balances across multiple blockchains, including Bitcoin, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism, Polygon, and Fantom. 

Additionally, Google updated its advertising policies at the beginning of 2024, allowing certain crypto products, including Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), to be advertised on major search engines.

Google Started Preparations for its Web3 Portal Last Year

Preparations for the Web3 portal launch began last year when Google Cloud integrated its BigQuery data warehouse with MultiversX, enabling Web3 projects and users to leverage powerful data analytics and artificial intelligence tools within the Google Cloud ecosystem. 

In September 2023, Google’s BigQuery expanded its data warehouse to include 11 blockchain networks, including Avalanche, Arbitrum, Cronos, Ethereum’s Görli testnet, Fantom, Near, Optimism, Polkadot, Polygon’s mainnet, Polygon’s Mumbai testnet, and Tron.

Earlier this month, the company filed a lawsuit against two individuals from China, Yunfeng Sun and Hongnam Cheung, for utilizing the Google Play store to deceive people into fake crypto investments. 

Although the lawsuit did not disclose the specific names of the implicated applications, Google revealed that it had deactivated 87 fraudulent apps associated with Sun and Cheung over the past four years. 

These apps collectively garnered nearly 100,000 downloads worldwide.

“This is a unique opportunity for us to use our resources to actually combat bad actors who were running an extensive crypto scheme to defraud some of our users,” Halimah DeLaine Prado, general counsel at Google, said. 

Google seeks a permanent injunction against the defendants and claims damages exceeding $75,000, which include expenses related to investigating the breach and ensuring platform safety and integrity.