As Google prepares to introduce a new security system developed to protect banks’ crypto assets, its parent company Alphabet has begun using the system for its digital assets on the Ethereum and Solana networks.
According to information Google provided to CoinDesk, Google Multi-Party Compute (MPC) will be introduced at a digital assets symposium in New York. The service is currently in a closed testing phase involving selected partners and major financial institutions; commercial availability is planned for early 2027.
Alphabet has not disclosed which digital assets it is protecting or their value. The use of the Ethereum and Solana networks does not indicate that the company has directly purchased ETH or SOL.
Wallet Control Will Not Be Concentrated in One Place
An attacker who gains access to a crypto wallet’s private key can transfer assets without the owner’s permission. According to Chainalysis data cited in the report, about 44 percent of the crypto stolen in 2024 was linked to compromised private keys.
MPC distributes the key information needed to sign a transaction across pieces held on different systems. For example, a bank could store one piece on its own hardware, another on Google Cloud, and a third with another cloud provider. Approving a transfer requires these pieces to work together with a specified number of participants.
Google says the complete private key is not stored in one place and that customers cannot access key information in unencrypted form. The goal is to reduce the risk that compromising a single device will give an attacker control of the assets.
Rules Will Be Checked Before Money Is Sent
Before signing begins, the system checks the transaction against rules set by the institution. These checks include setting limits on transfer amounts, allowing transfers only to approved wallets, or requiring approval from different departments.
Google previously offered guidance to customers on setting up MPC-based infrastructure. With the new product, transaction signing, transfer rules, and key recovery are brought together in one service. The company is thus preparing to take a more direct role in a market that includes specialized providers such as Fireblocks, Fordefi, and BitGo.
Quantum Protection Remains a Future Plan
Google says the architecture is designed to support a future transition to post-quantum cryptography. However, it has not provided a timeline for these signing features; the plan is to support the existing ECDSA and Ed25519 algorithms at commercial launch.
Current protections focus on risks such as the theft of key information and unauthorized transfers. The system’s security will also depend on how institutions configure approval rules and protect the people authorized to sign transactions.
Not investment advice.