BigTech gazed at the crypto industry with a weary smile for a long time. Too few users, too much crime – and last but not least: fear. Because the blockchain is preparing to shake up the old tech world, wants to break its monopolies and create new and more democratic forms of participation. This is still true in 2023, to a certain extent.
But now the big ones are getting involved in the blockchain business. They provide important infrastructure, invest in start-ups, dare to launch their own Web3 initiatives and cooperate with various projects in the industry. These are the darlings of the big tech giants.
Amazon
Without Amazon there would probably be no Ethereum. Almost half of all nodes run via the Amazon Web Services cloud service. The list of blockchain partners has grown over the years: In 2021 it was called Origin a Web3 web store, to the AWS Marketplace.
With the Oracle Chainlink they are working on common technology, with the supply chain blockchain VeChain on environmentally friendly management systems. Amazon entered into the most important cooperation with Avalanche in January 2023. The blockchain is like the official partner for AWS and its customers. Amazon is also investing in Web3 startups, for example in the gaming sector.
Google also offers its cloud services to many blockchain projects. In addition, the search engine giant is also involved as a validator for the blockchains Tezos, Aptos and Solana. Together with Chainlink and Hedera Hashgraph, they are researching new possible applications.
A “long-term and strategic partnership” has existed with Coinbase since 2022. Your first milestone: Making crypto payments possible on Google Cloud. That should happen in 2023. Google also gets access to Coinbase as a crypto custodian. In return, the crypto exchange is allowed to use the cloud service to scale its business.
Microsoft
Microsoft entered into a partnership with Ankr just a few weeks ago. They are working on a joint “node hosting service” that will allow “millions of customers” to access the blockchain. A few months earlier, Microsoft severely restricted the use of its Azure cloud service for crypto miners. The Xbox manufacturer entered into another major partnership with Enjin, one of the top blockchain gaming projects. Microsoft also invested in ConsenSys the company behind many important Ethereum projects such as MetaMask, the most popular wallet.
