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Google Cloud is building a cryptocurrency custody product for financial institutions, with the commercial rollout planned for early 2027. The service, Google Multi-Party Compute, is currently available in private preview.
A custody layer built around MPC
The design lets separate parties work together to sign blockchain transactions without keeping the entire private key in one place. Google describes MPC in its documentation as a key management service. The product brings transaction signing together with policy controls and key recovery, though its documentation warns that support may be limited.
Bitcoin controls gain policy checks
Google's documentation was updated on Monday, before the company's MPC Symposium in New York on Wednesday. The event covers its MPC research and technology, and speakers include representatives from Morgan Stanley, OKX, Citi and Wells Fargo. Release notes record several changes since August. A 1 October update added checks on Bitcoin transaction values, classification of destination address types and identification of change outputs. It also enabled Bitcoin transactions to be authorised through Google's policy engine.
Several financial institutions are testing the service, according to CoinDesk, which Finance Magnates also reported. Alphabet uses the technology to protect digital assets on Ethereum and Solana; Google has not identified those assets or disclosed their value. Google previously published guidance in 2023 on building digital asset security systems with Confidential Space.
- MPC-based collaborative signing
- Policy controls, including Bitcoin transaction authorisation
- Key recovery
Other institutional digital asset initiatives include Spotex linking its trading venue to BitGo's custody and settlement infrastructure, and Virtu Financial joining BitGo Prime's liquidity network. JPMorgan plans to accept Bitcoin and Ether as loan collateral for institutional clients through a third-party custodian. Ripple has partnered with South Africa's Absa Bank on digital asset custody technology.
What to watch next
For infrastructure teams, the open questions are how the preview connects to existing signing and policy workflows, which assets and transaction types it supports, and how key recovery is handled. The documentation indicates that support may be limited, but Google has not specified the boundaries. Operators assessing the service can also ask whether policy checks affect signing latency and how rejected or delayed transactions are surfaced to operations teams.
Google has not disclosed pricing or a specific launch date beyond its early 2027 availability plan. The next useful details will be the supported asset scope, preview access requirements and the operating model for key recovery. Those will determine what integration, monitoring and control changes firms need to plan.
