Google Cloud Supports Stablecoins... '24-Hour Global Finance' [Crypto Briefing]

[Financial News] Global big tech Google is joining the stablecoin market. After building blockchain financial infrastructure such as stablecoins through Google Cloud, it plans to make it available for financial institutions. As the value chain of rapidly growing stablecoins expands beyond issuance and distribution to include technology infrastructure and solutions, the 'big blur' phenomenon, where the boundaries between big tech and financial institutions disappear, is expected to become more pronounced.
On the 28th, Google Cloud announced that it will disclose detailed information about the 'Google Cloud Universal Ledger (GCUL)' currently under development within the year. Through GCUL, it plans to support integrated management of fiat currencies and assets, such as dollars, which are collateral for stablecoins. It also supports the issuance, management, and payment of virtual assets. The strategy is to establish itself as a '24-hour global remittance and payment infrastructure' based on dollar stablecoins and virtual assets.
Google cited market scalability as the background for supporting the virtual asset ecosystem, including stablecoins, through its own cloud service. Google Cloud emphasized, "The supply of stablecoins pegged to the dollar has increased to more than 1% of the total dollar currency supply (M2)," adding, "This surge clearly shows that stablecoins have established themselves in the market." It continued, "Stablecoins reduce the burden of complexity, inefficiency, and cost in existing payment systems and facilitate smooth fund transfers between digital wallets."
In fact, Visa is testing a payment infrastructure using Circle's stablecoin (USDC), and retailers like Whole Foods are accepting stablecoin payments and even offering incentives to reduce transaction fees and receive immediate payments.
Google Cloud's entry into the stablecoin infrastructure business coincides with the Trump administration's pro-virtual asset policy. Kim Hyun-man, a research fellow at Toss Insight Research Institute, pointed out in a report on stablecoins, "As regulatory uncertainties surrounding stablecoins, such as the U.S. Stablecoin Act (Genius Act), are resolved, the growth environment for stablecoins is being created," adding, "Technological infrastructure that can expand the practical liquidity of stablecoins, such as bridge technology for movement between blockchain networks, is also developing."
Both domestically and internationally, the convergence of big tech and the financial sector to build a stablecoin value chain is becoming active. The establishment of a stablecoin ecosystem division involving payment, distribution, and information technology (IT) companies such as LG CNS, Koscom, and Fair Square Lab, following the stablecoin division centered on banks by the Open Blockchain and DID Association, is a representative example.
Kakao and LINE's blockchain integrated chain Kaia DLT Foundation (Kaia) is also collaborating with the virtual asset payment app 'Ubit' to introduce the Tap to Pay service. As a result, Kaia asset holders in Korea, Thailand, and the Philippines can use the world's largest dollar stablecoin (USDT) and utility token 'KAIA' issued directly by Kaia to make payments at online and offline stores that support Visa cards. Merchants can also receive Kaia's virtual assets and settle them in fiat currency through real-time exchange.
Kaia DLT Foundation Chairman Seo Sang-min said, "Kaia users can now access Visa merchants and online payment networks using Kaia digital assets on Ubit's Tap to Pay mobile app," adding, "We will pioneer the digital asset-based hybrid payment field in cooperation with various partners in the future and introduce more asset options."
elikim@fnnews.com Kim Mi-hee Reporter