Google reveals Layer-1 ‘Universal Ledger’ plans such as Circle, Stripe Prep Rival Chains

More than five months after Google Cloud announced a partnership with CME Group, Rich Widmann, the head of the Tech Giant’s Head of Web3 strategy, confirmed Tuesday that the universal ledger of the company is indeed a low-1 blockchain.

“All this talk about Layer-1 Blockchains has brought Google’s own low-1 in focus,” Widmann written On LinkedIn. “If you build a low-1, it must be distinguished.”

Widmann’s statement will follow on March 25 from CME Group announcement That it has completed the first phase of integration and testing for the project. At the time, details were scarce about whether it was public or private, and if it was a Layer-1 chain.

A Layer-1 or L1 blockchain is a fundamental network that is carried out independently and treats transactions and security directly. In contrast to Layer-2 or L2 chains, it is not dependent on another chain for validation or settlement, although they can extend and improve the efficiency of a chain.

Decrypt Separately reached for Widmann and Google, but did not receive an immediate response.

Why Python?

Dubbed the Google Cloud Universal Ledger (GCUL), Bidmann described it as a basic layer that made it possible on python-based smart contracts, making a programmable, distributed ledger for wholesale payments and assets tokenization.

The choice of the programming language distinguishes Google’s L1, apart from it usually used and accepted as standard in the crypto industry, such as firmness for Ethereum-compatible chains and rust for chains such as Solana, Aptos and Sui.

Choosing Python is “pragmatic” because it “reduces the barrier for companies and fintech developers who already use it for data, finance and machine learning,” Christine Erispe, a developer lawyer at Ethereum Philippines, told Decrypt.

With Python, the upcoming L1 could “accelerate experiments”, but can also “Silo developers”, unless Google makes efforts to offer “strong tooling, audit and interoperability bridges,” Erisse said.

That movement is ‘a contrary bet’, because ‘instead of being EVM-compatible, it leans on the scale of Google, the reach of the financial institution and a differentiated programming model,’ she added.

Credible neutral?

Unlike other upcoming layer-1 chains such as stripe’s Pace or Circle’s BowGoogle’s network is positioned as an open infrastructure, where Widmann describes it as a “high -performance, credible neutral” chain on which “every financial institution” can build.

While Stripe and Circle are “Building Chains that fit directly into their existing companies”, Google plays “another game: scale and neutrality”, Aharon Miller, co-founder and COO of Crypto Payments Gateway Oobit, said Decrypt.

As a centralized tech giant, Google “already has half of the infrastructure of the internet, but the real test is or settings believe that they will remain neutral in the long term,” Miller said.

Dr. However, Sean Yang, Chief Technology Officer at Oort – a data global for decentralized AI – has demanded that Google’s neutrality claim ‘can be more marketing than reality’.

Google has “huge conflicts of interest between payments, cloud services and advertisements,” Yang said Decrypt.

Asked about the differences between the three L1s, Yang said that Google will be “wide” while “Circle goes deep” and “Stripe focuses on developers and payment companies.”

Although they are not in direct competition, the three “different segments of institutional blockchain infrastructure are cutting out,” said Yang.