Polygon Boasts Same Fast, Low-Cost Infrastructure That Powers YouTube, Gmail As Google Cloud Becomes Its Validator

Blockchain platform Polygon now boasts the same infrastructure that powers YouTube and Gmail as Google Cloud becomes one of its validators.

Google Cloud, a suite of public cloud computing services offered by search engine giant Google, is now an official validator for the layer-2 blockchain Polygon proof-of-stake (PoS) network, joining more than 100 other validators in securing the network.

"This month, @GoogleCloud became part of the decentralized validator set for Polygon PoS," Polygon said in its announcement.

"With 100+ validators securing the Polygon PoS Network, Google Cloud is in good company," it added.

Polygon also announced that "the same infrastructure used to power @YouTube and @gmail is now helping to secure the fast, low-cost, Ethereum-for-all Polygon protocol," adding that "high-quality, trusted, security-minded validators like Google Cloud provide an added layer of security for Heimdall, Bor and Polygon PoS users."

Polygon also disclosed that Google Cloud has staked 10,451 MATIC, the native cryptocurrency of the Polygon network.

Despite its name in the industry, Google Cloud is one of the validators with the lowest amount of MATIC staked, which is worth just $5,300.

"We are now serving as a validator on the Polygon PoS network, contributing to the network's collective security, governance and decentralization alongside 100+ other validators," Google Cloud announced on X, formerly Twitter, on Sept. 29.

Polygon's collaboration with Google Cloud started in April, with both companies saying at the time that the partnership had multiple goals.

"Google Cloud and Polygon Labs announced a multi-year strategic alliance to accelerate the adoption of core Polygon protocols, including Polygon PoS (point of sale), Polygon Supernets and Polygon zkEVM, with Google Cloud infrastructure and developer tools," Polygon said.

In September, Google's cloud-computing business expanded its push into blockchain as it added 11 networks to its Big Query program for public datasets.

BigQuery, as defined by its official website, is a "serverless and cost-effective enterprise data warehouse" designed for "practitioners of various coding skills."

Among the networks added by Google Cloud were Polygon, Polkadot and Optimism.

It is worth noting that while the partnership between Google Cloud and Polygon is extensive, it is not one of a kind since Google Cloud has already made similar validator partnerships with other blockchain networks in the past, including Tezos, Ronin Network, Celo, Voltage and Solana.

However, aside from Google Cloud, Polygon has also gained the interest of big techs in its ecosystem.

Earlier this year, German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom became a network validator for Polygon.

"The Polygon ecosystem is very developer-friendly and resource-efficient. It is based on the highest security standards of the Ethereum ecosystem," Dirk Röder, head of the Blockchain Solutions Center at Deutsche Telekom, said.

"The collaboration with Polygon is an important step for Deutsche Telekom MMS to fully exploit the potential of blockchain technology and enable applications suitable for mass deployment. Deutsche Telekom MMS also supports Polygon staking, contributing to the security and decentralization of the blockchain," he added.