Google Cloud is developing its own blockchain for payments, currently in private testnet

Google Cloud is building its own blockchain network, named Google Cloud Universal Ledger (GCUL), for the financial sector, according to Rich Widmann, Google Cloud's Web3 Head of Strategy, who announced this on Tuesday.

Widmann wrote in a LinkedIn post that GCUL aims to provide financial institutions with a "performant, credibly neutral" blockchain platform that enables Python-based smart contracts. 

"Besides bringing to bear Google's distribution, GCUL is a neutral infrastructure layer," Widmann said in the post. "Tether won't use Circle's blockchain - and Adyen probably won't use Stripe's blockchain.  But any financial institution can build with GCUL."

GCUL is currently in a private testnet, and further details will be revealed at a later date, according to Widmann's post.

Google Cloud officially described GCUL as a new service for the financial market, accessible through a single API and programmable to enable payment automation and digital asset management. The company also stated that GCUL was designed with a focus on compliance and will operate as a private, permissioned system.

While Widmann described GCUL as a Layer 1 network, the permissioned and private nature of Google Cloud's upcoming blockchain has resulted in community skepticism, with some arguing that it should not be mistakenly described as a decentralized blockchain.

Google Cloud had previously announced the GCUL initiative in March, in collaboration with the CME Group, where CME was piloting solutions on the platform for use in wholesale payments and asset tokenization.