Google Partners With Coinbase to Accept Crypto Payments for Cloud Services

Google will start accepting crypto payments for cloud services early next year.

Announced Tuesday at Google’s Cloud Next conference, the tech giant said it will receive crypto payment via an integration with crypto exchange Coinbase.

Crypto payments will initially be rolled out to a handful of customers involved in the Web3 industry. Google will also user Coinbase's custody service, Coinbase Prime.

"We want to make building in Web3 faster and easier, and this partnership with Coinbase helps developers get one step closer to that goal," said Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud.

The tech giant has been adding to its crypto features and services recently, with Ethereum wallet balances now showing up when an address is searched on Google, and BNB Chain partnering with Google Cloud to support the growth of early-stage Web3 and blockchain startups. The search giant also provided a countdown clock to Ethereum’s recent upgrade to proof of stake.

Brian Armstrong, co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, said: "We could not ask for a better partner to help execute our vision of building a trusted bridge into the Web3 ecosystem."

Shares of Coinbase were up over 6% at $71.32 in afternoon trading on Tuesday.

"We believe more partnerships with traditional players will follow. As the crypto economy expands longer term, Coinbase will look more like an integrated digital asset enabler than a pure-play crypto exchange," said Owen Lau, analyst at Oppenheimer.

UPDATE (Oct. 11, 2022 13:48 UTC): Adds analyst comment.

UPDATE (Oct. 11, 2022 17:31 UTC): Adds details on Google's latest crypto features and services, and updates Coinbase share price.