Distributed ledger technology “has great potential to benefit customers not just in the financial services industry, but across many industries,” said Leonard Law, the global product management lead for Google Cloud for Financial Services. “We’re excited to bring these developer tools to Google Cloud."
In one of the most glorious moments of "Seinfeld," Newman ominously declares to Jerry, "When you control the mail … you control information!" Speaking in the late 20th century, Jerry's archnemesis inadvertently observed the larger importance of middlemen: the people that handle communication channels and set industry standards possess power (and lots of it).
If blockchain becomes even a fraction of what has been promised[1], whoever creates its industry standards could reap enormous financial rewards and wield tremendous influence over the rest of society. Digital Asset[2], a distributed ledger solutions provider for regulated financial institutions, is one company that seems like it's trying to make its mark on the world.
On July 23, Digital Asset announced[3] its collaboration with Google Cloud[4]. In a nutshell, the company is putting its blockchain developer tools on the Google Cloud Platform. "Developers now have access to a comprehensive suite of tools and services to build, test and deploy distributed ledger applications on-demand and without having to configure the underlying platform," Digital Asset explained.
It's not clear what that will look like in practice.
Regardless, Digital Asset says that Google Cloud has "joined the private beta of Digital Asset's developer program, which provides a select group of technology partners, software vendors and global financial institutions with access to the Software Development Kit (SDK) for DAML, the Digital Asset Modeling Language." Just a few months ago, Digital Asset opened a developer program for DAML[5]
