Google’s blockchain team is building an XRP killer
Alphabet recently unveiled a new blockchain called the Google Cloud Universal Ledger (GCUL), some Features of which appear to put it in direct competition with Ripple Labs’ XRP Ledger (XRPL). The $2.5 trillion internet giant stamped its own brand on it and name-dropped other heavyweights on its debut, including the world’s largest options and futures exchange, CME. Like XRPL, GCUL will be a distributed base layer blockchain, allow API access, operate 24/7 with low latency, support programmable tokenization of assets, provide financial applications like payment automations, charge fees for transactions, support institutional infrastructure, facilitate global payments, and integrate with third-party wallets. This feature list, not to mention GCUL’s banking and payments focus, mirrors years of XRPL messaging . Indeed, a reader of Google’s documentation might become confused about whether certain paragraphs are describing GCUL or XRPL. For example, GCUL will powe...