Google has partnered with Dapper Labs to enable Google Cloud to host Flow blockchain nodes, Forbes reported. The partnership will help support Flow’s scalability and is an expansion of Google providing hosting for various blockchains.
Dapper, the company behind Flow, used the Ethereum blockchain in 2017 to power its first project, CryptoKitties. However, the NFT game proved so popular that it congested the blockchain network, slowing functionality and increasing transaction costs not just for CryptoKitties but all Ethereum users. Hence, Dapper developed its own blockchain network, Flow, which unsurprisingly, is explicitly designed for non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles and crypto games.
Flow powers Dapper’s NBA Top Shot, where the marketplace is responsible for over $680 million in transactions, and there are 50 other initiatives that use it. It also has plans to support brands’ individual NFT projects such as the Chicago Bulls and Sacramento Kings’ digital collectibles. It will soon host digital fashion platform Neuno and the leading digital marketplace OpenSea will also support Flow.
Google Cloud is the third leading player in the cloud hosting sector, behind AWS and Microsoft Azure. Both its competitors launched enterprise blockchain offerings. Azure Blockchain, in partnership with ConsenSys and Ethereum, was discontinued last week.
Google’s strategy in the blockchain industry has been to provide hosting for public blockchains. Google is a member of the Hedera Hashgraph governing council, its first public ledger. It was a candidate to run a node for the EOS public blockchain in 2020 and was chosen to validate transactions on Theta Videos public blockchain network. Partnering with Flow has the potential to add many nodes to Google Cloud.
According to Forbes, the services provided by Google Cloud will enable developers to access nodes on Flow more efficiently and seamlessly.
“It’s really about helping them with rapid and sustainable growth,” said Google Cloud North America VP Janet Kennedy. “Blockchain technology is becoming more and more mainstream. So companies like Dapper need scalable, secure infrastructure to grow their business, and even more importantly, support their networks.”
For Dapper, the objective is to make Flow as accessible and scalable as possible. “What you’re seeing on blockchain today is the iPhone moment where consumers are starting to understand what’s going on,” Roham Gharegozlou, Dapper Labs’ CEO told Forbes. “There’s tons of opportunity to build everything from the Flappy Bird to the Angry Bird of Flow and just blockchain in general.” The reach and global presence of Google Cloud is likely to help Dapper achieve this mission.
Meanwhile, Germany’s Deutsche Telekom seems to be using a similar strategy to Google to enter the blockchain space. It also operates nodes on Flow and the Celo public blockchain, which targets mainly mobile payments and decentralized finance initiatives.
