Google Cloud is strengthening its involvement in the blockchain space through new partnerships with BNB Chain and ZetaChain. This move reflects its growing interest in supporting decentralized application (dApp) and Web3 development. Both partnerships aim to boost developer resources and security, with BNB Chain securing $10 million in developer incentives and ZetaChain benefiting from Google Cloud’s validation of its mainnet and testnet environments.
The BNB Chain partnership focuses on Google Cloud’s $10 million investment to fund blockchain developers in its Most Valuable Builder (MVB) Program. Through this, up to 40 MVB projects on BNB Chain will be eligible for Google Cloud credits: $350,000 for AI-based projects and $200,000 for other Web3 initiatives over the next two years. Although Google Cloud won’t work directly with BNB Chain immediately, these credits support smaller developers, contributing to overall blockchain innovation. This approach resembles recent funding initiatives in the AI development sector.
ZetaChain's partnership with Google Cloud is more hands-on. Google Cloud will become a validator for ZetaChain, enhancing the security and reliability of its mainnet and testnet, which is critical for network stability. This collaboration includes Google Cloud managing five validators with 1 million ZETA tokens delegated. Google Cloud’s commitment builds on a similar validator partnership with MANTRA in October. Despite this news, the price of ZETA tokens has fallen by nearly 6% in the last 24 hours, likely reflecting market volatility.
These partnerships show Google Cloud’s increased engagement in blockchain, marking one of its first major investments in the sector since April. Richard Widmann, Google Cloud’s Head of Web3 Strategy, stated that the company is dedicated to providing infrastructure and tools to drive dApp development and Web3 interoperability.
