Google Cloud Tests Crypto and Tokenized Asset Custody Service for Institutions Ahead of 2027 Launch
Key Facts
Major financial institutions are testing Google’s Multi-Party Computation service for custody and transfer of cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets, according to a report published by CoinDesk on October 28, 2026. The report said the service remains in private preview and that Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has begun using it to protect digital assets it owns on the Ethereum and Solana networks. The report did not identify those assets or the institutions taking part in the test. The service was due to be presented at Google’s Digital Security and Multi-Party Computation Symposium in New York on the same day. Google plans to make it commercially available in early 2027, without disclosing pricing.
The service relies on distributing portions of the private key across separate systems, so the complete key is not stored in one place, according to CoinDesk’s explanation of how it works. This distribution allows an institution to specify which participants must approve a transaction together. Examples of thresholds cited in the report include requiring approval from two of three participants, or five of seven, to produce a transaction signature. Signing authority is therefore distributed among several participants instead of being concentrated in a single complete key. The structure allows an institution to set the number of participants required for approval, according to the examples in the report.
Google says multi-party computation technology can reduce the risk of single points of compromise, and that participants can produce their signatures without revealing their secret material to one another or to the computing platform operator, according to a Google Cloud blog post. The company previously explained the use of the technology with Confidential Space to manage digital assets on January 24, 2023. On April 5, 2023, another blog post quoted a Wells Fargo official as saying the bank was exploring secure solutions for new digital products in collaboration with Google Cloud’s digital assets team. This places the current service within the company’s earlier work on using multi-party computation for digital assets. CoinDesk describes the product now under test as a service dedicated to custody and transfer of crypto and tokenized assets for financial institutions.
When generally available, the service plans to support the ECDSA and Ed25519 cryptographic signature algorithms, according to CoinDesk. Google also describes its design as capable of future post-quantum updates. The report did not specify a date for these updates or provide details on their implementation; the stated support for the two algorithms is tied to the planned general availability phase. The development comes as companies engaged in crypto custody move toward adopting multi-party computation: Gemini announced on October 7, 2026, that every new custody account would be opened with an architecture based on the technology, with plans to move existing clients to it later. Gemini said crypto withdrawals are now typically completed within minutes after the move to multi-party computation, instead of waiting for the previous daily operating cycle.
In markets, Bitcoin rose about 2% to $81,560.5 at 06:21 Eastern Time on October 28, recovering some losses after hitting a low of $79,496.8 earlier in the week, according to a Reuters report published via Investing.com. The report attributed the rise mainly to gains in technology stocks and improved risk appetite ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision, and did not link it to Google’s announcement. Bitcoin was on track to lose 3.2% in October, according to the report, marking a second consecutive year of losses for the month. Its close in EL7 data on October 27 was $80,909.77, while Alphabet shares (GOOGL) closed at $320.58 on the same day. Google’s service is scheduled to become commercially available in early 2027, while its pricing and the names of the institutions testing it have not been announced.