Google unveiled a new crypto custody security platform for banks, positioning the service as a defense against emerging AI and quantum computing threats.
Google Multi-Party Compute (MPC) will let banks and other financial institutions hold and transfer digital and tokenized assets more securely by splitting private keys across separate machines and cloud environments. The platform is already in private preview, with Alphabet, Google’s parent company, using it to secure its own Ethereum and Solana holdings. Google plans to make the service commercially available in early 2027.
The offerings put Google in competition with crypto security firms Fireblocks, Fordefi, and BitGo. Its core technology divides a private key into separate fragments distributed across multiple systems, requiring several pieces of cryptographic information to work together to authorize a transaction. This approach is designed to prevent any single compromised system from exposing the key and giving a criminal control of a wallet’s assets.
“This isn’t new tech, but there’s real demand for stronger custody as banks expand into digital assets, and Google’s infrastructure and bank relationships could help drive adoption,” said Joel Hugentobler, Cryptocurrency Analyst at Javelin Strategy & Research. “Splitting control of private keys reduces the risk from a compromised system, but calling it AI protection is overstating it. It gives institutions a way to retain control while making it harder for a compromised system authorization for a transfer.”
Protected Even from Google
Google says its own systems cannot access the key shares in unencrypted form while they reside on its infrastructure. The approach is intended to eliminate a single point of failure, a vulnerability that has contributed to major crypto losses. If an attacker gains control of a wallet’s private key, they can transfer its assets without the owner’s knowledge or authorization.
While this is Google’s first dedicated MPC custody product for crypto, the company has previously supported the technology. In 2023, it published guidance on building MPC-based digital-asset systems using its Confidential Space infrastructure. Google also offers Cloud Key Management Service (KMS) and Cloud HSM, which help institutions manage and protect cryptographic keys.
The Threat of Key Compromises
Private-key compromises have cost the crypto industry billions of dollars. According to DeFiLlama data reported by CoinDesk, blockchain projects lost nearly $17 billion to security breaches through the first half of this year, with roughly 40% of those losses attributed to private-key compromises.
Google is looking ahead to potential advances in quantum computing and AI that could expose new vulnerabilities in digital asset security. Earlier this year, Google published research warning that quantum computing could threaten widely used cryptocurrency encryption methods sooner than previously anticipated, raising concerns about the long-term security of digital assets.