In a move that underscores the growing importance of blockchain technology in the digital landscape, Google Cloud’s BigQuery service recently made a significant expansion by adding support for 11 new blockchain networks. This development, announced on September 21st via a blog post and a tweet from Google Cloud, showcases the tech giant’s commitment to staying at the forefront of data management and analysis in the blockchain realm.
A Deeper Dive into BigQuery
Before delving into the latest updates, it’s important to understand what Google Cloud’s BigQuery service entails. Essentially, BigQuery is a robust data warehouse service offered by Google that empowers enterprise firms to store, manage, and query vast datasets effectively. Beyond enabling organizations to handle their proprietary data, BigQuery also offers access to various public datasets, such as Google Trends, demographic information from the American Community Service, Google Analytics data, and more.
Google’s journey into blockchain integration began in earnest in 2018 when it introduced a Bitcoin dataset within the BigQuery service. Later that same year, Ethereum was also incorporated. Subsequently, the company steadily expanded its blockchain coverage, notably in February 2019, when it added support for Bitcoin Cash, Dash, Dogecoin, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, and Zcash.
The September 21st Expansion: 11 New Blockchains
Fast forward to 2023, and Google Cloud is making headlines once again with its latest announcement. The company revealed that it has added 11 new blockchain networks to its BigQuery data warehouse. These newly integrated networks are Avalanche, Arbitrum, Cronos, Ethereum Görli testnet, Fantom, Near, Optimism, Polkadot, Polygon mainnet, Polygon Mumbai testnet, and Tron. With this expansion, BigQuery now boasts data from a total of 19 blockchain networks, reinforcing its position as a comprehensive hub for blockchain-related insights.
Simplifying Blockchain Queries with User-Defined Functions (UDFs)
In addition to introducing these new blockchains, Google has rolled out a significant feature aimed at simplifying blockchain queries within BigQuery. Through a set of user-defined functions (UDFs), Google’s development team has crafted tools to manage the intricacies of long-form decimal results commonly encountered in blockchain data. By providing these UDFs, Google aims to offer users access to more precise decimal digits when working with blockchain data while minimizing the potential for rounding errors in computational processes.
Google Cloud’s Growing Interest in Blockchain Technology
This expansion of blockchain support in BigQuery underscores Google Cloud’s growing interest in blockchain technology throughout 2023. Earlier in the year, on July 7th, the company forged a partnership with Voltage, a prominent Lightning Network infrastructure provider, demonstrating its commitment to fostering innovations in blockchain scalability. More recently, on September 14th, Google Cloud joined forces with Web3 startup Orderly Network to contribute to decentralized finance (DeFi) by providing off-chain components.
In conclusion, Google Cloud’s continuous investment in blockchain integration signifies the evolving landscape of data management and analysis. As blockchain technology continues to shape various industries, Google Cloud is positioned to provide essential tools and insights to businesses and developers seeking to leverage the power of distributed ledgers and decentralized applications. The future of data and blockchain convergence looks promising, and Google Cloud is leading the way.