‪Google’s New Security System Will Allow Banks to Store and Transfer Crypto and Tokenized Assets

Google Cloud is introducing a service designed to help banks protect cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets without storing a complete private key in any single location.

Called Google Multi-Party Compute, the offering was showcased Wednesday at the company’s first symposium dedicated to digital assets. Banks can split a signing key into shares stored in different environments: one on their own hardware, one in Google Cloud, and another with a competing cloud provider. Because no environment holds the full key, a breach of one system cannot grant an attacker control of the assets.

Google states it cannot read customers’ key shares in plaintext, even those stored on its servers. The service remains in private preview, with unnamed banks and partners already testing it. Alphabet, Google’s parent, has begun using the technology to secure its own Ethereum and Solana holdings. Commercial availability is targeted for early 2027; pricing has not been disclosed.

Rich Widmann, director of digital assets strategy at Google Cloud, said: “Digital asset adoption and tokenization are at an inflection point. As regulated financial institutions begin adopting blockchains and tokenization, they need scalable, proven infrastructure to secure their clients’ assets.”

Each key share is created and stored independently. Parties cooperate to sign transactions without reconstructing the full key. Institutions set their own thresholds, such as two-of-three or five-of-seven. An attacker who compromises fewer shares than the threshold cannot forge a signature.

A policy engine running in Google’s Confidential Space reviews every proposed transaction against rules like spending limits or approved destinations. The check is advisory; enough authorized signers can override a denial.

The product packages threshold signing, transaction policies, and key recovery into one platform. It positions Google against providers such as Fireblocks, BitGo, and Fordefi.

While it mentions longer-term AI and quantum risks, the documentation focuses on stolen keys, outages, and lost material. The system can later support post-quantum cryptography. At launch, it will handle ECDSA (Bitcoin and Ethereum) and Ed25519 (Solana).

By letting banks keep partial control of every key, Google aims to reduce one of institutional crypto’s biggest risks: the single compromised private key.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​