Google Exploring Blockchain Products — CEO Shares Web3 Strategies

Google has shared some details of its web3 and blockchain strategies. “As a company, we are looking at how we might contribute to the ecosystem and add value,” said Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and its parent company, Alphabet Inc.

Google’s Web3 and Blockchain Strategies

The CEO of Alphabet Inc. and its subsidiary Google, Sundar Pichai, shared some information on the group’s blockchain strategy during the company’s Q4 earnings call last week.

Pichai was asked about his view on web3 and Alphabet’s approach to the industry. “Anytime there is innovation, I find it exciting,” the Google CEO began, elaborating:

On web3, we are definitely looking at blockchain, and such an interesting and powerful technology with broad applications, so much broader, again, than any one application.

“As a company, we are looking at how we might contribute to the ecosystem and add value,” he continued, adding:

Just one example, our Cloud team is looking at how they can support our customers’ needs in building, transacting, storing value, and deploying their products on blockchain-based platforms.

“So we’ll definitely be watching the space closely and supporting it where we can. Overall, I think technology will continue to evolve and innovate and we want to be pro-innovation and approach it that way,” the CEO opined.

Google’s Cloud division recently formed a group to build business around blockchain applications. Richard Widmann, head of strategy for digital assets at Google’s Cloud unit, said the group plans to hire a slew of people with blockchain expertise. “We think that if we do our jobs right, it will drive decentralization,” he was quoted by the media as saying.

The executive added that Google is currently considering what types of services it can offer directly to developers in the blockchain space. Thomas Kurian, Google’s cloud CEO, has identified a number of areas, including retail and health care.

Shivakumar Venkataraman, an engineering vice president for Google, is now running a unit focused on “blockchain and other next-gen distributed computing and data storage technologies,” Bloomberg reported last week.

What do you think about Google’s web3 and blockchain strategies? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Bitcoin, Ethereum Technical Analysis: Bitcoin Hits $43,000 After Tesla Announcement

Following a strong weekend, bitcoin’s surge continued to start the week, as Tesla announced close to $2 billion worth of holdings in BTC. Overall, crypto markets were around 3% higher on Monday.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin, which consolidated for the majority of last week, moved closer to a three-week high today, climbing by as much as 3% as of writing.

BTC/USD rose to an intraday high above $43,500.00 during Monday’s session, as markets reacted to the news that Tesla currently holds $1.9 billion in bitcoin.

The move came as bitcoin marginally broke out of its resistance level of $42,060 for the first time since January 21.

As of writing, the RSI also climbed to a high point, tracking above its long-term ceiling of 60, which it last hit in mid-November.

Monday’s move has also led to a crossover of the 10-day (red) and 25-day (blue) moving averages, which many long-term bulls have been waiting for.

Bulls may take this as a sign to add more upward pressure to prices, with some targeting $45,000 as the next point of profit taking.

Ethereum

ETH was also tracking at multi-week highs on Monday, as bulls continue to flock to the world’s second largest cryptocurrency.

As of writing, ETH/USD climbed to a high of $3,111.16 today, after trading at $2,965.43 less than 24-hours ago.

Overall, ethereum is up over 20% in the last week, coming as its 14-RSI broke beyond two key resistance levels in that time.

The first break came after a break above 44 on February 3, followed by Saturday’s surge above the 55 ceiling.

These moves have created a shift in both the 10-day and 25-day moving averages, which, similar to BTC, is set for a crossover.

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Research Firm Predicts Bitcoin Will Hit $200K in Second Half of 2022, ETH to Reach $12K

This week in a note to investors, Fsinsight, a Fundstrat company, said bitcoin could reach $200,000 during the second half of the year. In the investor’s note, Fsinsight’s head of digital asset strategy, Sean Farrell, said the parabolic growth would be due to “legacy market capital entering the fold.”

Fsinsight: ‘Bitcoin to Tap $200K in H2 2022, Ethereum Will Jump Close to 400%’

While last year’s $100K predictions went silent during the last month of 2021, bitcoin (BTC) price predictions are starting to appear again this year. According to the Fundstrat firm Fsinsight, BTC could increase by almost 500% from the current price point to around $200K per unit.

The BTC price prediction stems from Fsinsight and the firm’s head of digital asset strategy, Sean Farrell. Both Fsinsight and Fundstrat are bullish about the upside potential of crypto assets as Fundstrat Global Advisors’ head of research recently insisted bitcoin still has “exponential growth ahead” of it.

Fsinsight’s and Farrell’s investor’s note says times are different now that major businesses and “legacy market capital [is] entering the fold.” “This is much different from 2018 where tech stocks were still doing well but bitcoin sold off along with the rest of the crypto market cap,” Farrell explained. Meanwhile, all eyes are on the Federal Reserve’s meeting in March as Fed chair Jerome Powell has hinted at raising benchmark interest rates.

Fsinsight’s prediction notes that U.S. policymakers could bring some downside to the leading crypto asset’s price growth. “All assets can sell off and drop another 50% if the Fed hikes 4% tomorrow or next month,” Farrell remarked in the note. “But right now, as things stand, the upside to both bitcoin and [ethereum] is much larger than the downside

Meanwhile, digital currency values have increased during the last week as bitcoin (BTC) has climbed over 12% and ethereum (ETH) jumped more than 13% over the last seven days. Fsinsight’s prediction also notes that ethereum has the potential to swell in USD value during the last half of 2022. Fsinsight’s investor’s note predicts ETH could climb close to 400% to around $12K per unit.

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TA: Bitcoin Bulls Keeps Pushing, Why Rally Isn’t Over Yet

Bitcoin settled above the $40,000 level against the US Dollar. BTC is now rising and could accelerate further above the $42,650 resistance zone.

• Bitcoin started a strong increase above the $40,000 resistance zone.
• The price is trading well above $40,000 and the 100 hourly simple moving average.
• There is a key bullish trend line forming with support near $41,600 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
• The pair could continue to rise if it clears the $42,650 resistance zone in the near term.

Bitcoin Price Gains Bullish Momentum

Bitcoin price started a major increase after there was a close above the $38,500 level. BTC gained bullish momentum and was able to surpass the $40,000 zone and the 100 hourly simple moving average.

The upward move was such that the price even rallied above the $41,200 resistance. It traded as high as $42,694 and is currently consolidating gains. It seems like the price is preparing for the next move and trading well above the 100 hourly simple moving ave

Besides, there is key bullish trend line forming with support near $41,600 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair. The pair is also trading well above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $37,324 swing low to $42,694 high.

An immediate resistance is near the $42,650 level. The next major resistance is near the $43,200 zone. A clear upside break above the $43,200 resistance level could spark another increase. In the stated case, the price could even test the $45,000 resistance zone.

Dips Limited in BTC?

If bitcoin fails to start a fresh increase above $42,650, it could a downside correction. An immediate support on the downside is near the $41,600 zone. The first major support is seen near the $40,000 zone.

It is near the 50% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $37,324 swing low to $42,694 high. Any more losses might call for a move towards the $39,500 support zone and the 100 hourly simple moving average. If the bulls fail to protect $39,500, there could be a sharp decline in the near term.

Hourly MACD – The MACD is now gaining momentum in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BTC/USD is now above the 50 level.

Major Support Levels – $41,600, followed by $40,000.

Major Resistance Levels – $42,650, $43,200 and $45,000.

Bitcoin Beach wallet creator Galoy aims to replicate El Salvador project

Galoy, the startup that created the open-source, Lightning Network-compatible Bitcoin Beach wallet, recently completed a $3 million seed round to ramp up its operations and help bring its Bitcoin banking platform to more communities, businesses and governments. 

Miami-based Galoy, launched Bitcoin Beach as a proof-of-concept in the El Salvador surf town of El Zonte in October 2020. The wallet supports the local Bitcoin Beach project there, which has sought to create a bitcoin-based economy. The wallet has more than 6,000 users, according to Galoy’s website.

Bitcoin Beach is different than El Salvador’s state-backed wallet Chivo, which launched in September 2021, after a law making Bitcoin legal tender in the country went into force. Chivo is not open source.

Craft Ventures, Kingsway Capital, Trammell Venture Partners and Balaji Srinivasan participated in Galoy’s seed round, which was announced on December 15. Fulgur Ventures, Bitcoiner Ventures, Vijay Boyapati and Brad Mills also participated.

Galoy’s marketing director Andrew Begin told The Block in an interview that the company plans to use the funding to bring Galoy's open-source platform to a wider audience. He noted two, newer Bitcoin-based community projects in the region utilizing the wallet: Bitcoin Jungle in Costa Rica, which used Galoy’s open-source code to create their own wallet, and Bitcoin Lake in Guatemala is using the Bitcoin Beach wallet itself.

“We’re really scaling up from what started out as a proof-of-concept," said Begin. "The Bitcoin Beach wallet is being turned into its own company with local leadership,” he said. He did not name any specific companies or governments interested in using the wallet.

According to a press release from Galoy, its technology is designed to enable “any community, company or government to offer banking services using Bitcoin and Lightning.” The company says its open-source platform includes a backend API, point-of-sale apps, mobile wallets, compliance tools and administrative controls. It also offers what it calls "Banking-as-a-Service."

“Galoy is not in the business of being the bank — we want to provide the software, the infrastructure for others to repeat what we saw happen in El Zonte in El Salvador,” Begin continued. “So we’ll be scaling operations, team development, in order to really bring the platform to a broader audience to the right places around the world.”