Cryptoupdated 1h ago3 min read
Google Cloud Previews MPC Crypto Custody Service for Banks Ahead of Early 2027
“This is to face the emergence of AI-driven cyber threats.”
“The system divides control of cryptographic keys among separate participants and environments, such as Google Cloud infrastructure and a financial institution’s own hardware.”
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Google Cloud's MPC custody service splits private keys among participants for institutional crypto custody. The service is in private preview with commercial availability planned for early 2027.
MPC for Bank Custody
Google Cloud is preparing a cryptocurrency custody service built on Google Multi-Party Compute (MPC) that is designed to help banks protect digital assets without keeping a complete private key in one place. Google Cloud is targeting commercial availability for early 2027, and it is keeping the service in private preview while it divides control of cryptographic keys among separate participants and environments. Google Cloud says its system can authorize transactions through a coordinated signing process without reconstructing the complete private key in one location, and it routes transfers through Google’s Confidential Space for policy checks before signing.
Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is already using the technology to secure digital assets on Ethereum and Solana, and Google says it never sees the shares in unencrypted form. Rich Widmann, director of digital assets strategy at Google Cloud, framed the timing around regulated institutions adopting blockchains and tokenization, saying, "As regulated financial institutions begin adopting blockchains and tokenization, they need scalable, proven infrastructure to secure their clients' assets."
Rules Layer and Thresholds
Google Cloud is positioning MPC as a policy layer on top of distributed key control, and it is describing a rules engine that checks transfer requests against limits the bank has set before any signature is produced. Google Cloud says the rules can cap the size of a transfer, restrict which wallets can receive funds, or require sign-off from more than one department, and it says the system supports signing thresholds such as two-of-three or five-of-seven. Google Cloud is also describing an architecture where a bank can keep one key share on its own hardware, a second in Google Cloud, and a third with a competing cloud provider.
Google Cloud is updating its Bitcoin security rules to evaluate transaction amounts, identify destination address types, and detect change outputs, and it is positioning those checks as part of the policy engine. Cointelegraph’s report on the MPC Symposium in New York says the event will include an “exclusive revealing of Google’s frontier MPC product and research projects,” and it lists speakers from Morgan Stanley, OKX, Citi and Wells Fargo.
Why It Matters Now
Google Cloud is launching MPC custody as banks and financial institutions face theft risks tied to compromised credentials, and Chainalysis figures attributed to private-key compromises account for approximately 43.8% of cryptocurrency stolen in 2024. BigGo Finance adds that DeFiLlama data shows blockchain projects have lost a cumulative $16.69 billion to hacks and exploits through June of this year, with roughly 40% of that tied to private-key failures. Google Cloud is also pitching the service as a way to reduce concentration risk by limiting what a single compromised machine can do, while it is still presenting MPC as an additional security layer rather than a guarantee that theft is impossible.
Google Cloud is positioning the service for institutional Bitcoin custody and is keeping the identities of testing partners confidential, while it is describing the preview as potentially limited support. Altcoin Buzz says the launch comes as banks explore tokenized assets and blockchain-based financial services while facing growing concerns about stolen credentials, unauthorized transactions, and future quantum-computing threats.