Google Pay plans to become a crypto wallet

The crypto market seems to have gotten attention from Google, and the company intends to offer wallets for cryptocurrencies. To this end, Google will partner with Coinbase and BitPay to “store crypto assets in digital cards.” The final goal will be to make Google Pay a comprehensive digital wallet.

Google has hired former PayPal executive Arnold Goldberg to run its payments division in a move geared toward broadening its users’ access to financial services, including cryptocurrencies, Bloomberg reported.

Despite historically staying away from crypto, now Google is more actively considering the industry, as per the company’s president of commerce, Bill Ready.

The payments and emerging markets division is part of Google’s Next Billion Users initiative. Bill Ready, Google’s president of commerce who himself used to be PayPal’s chief operating officer, emphasized that the hiring move was part of Google’s broader expansion into more financial services, including cryptocurrencies.

The company has also joined forces with crypto exchange Coinbase and digital currencies payment provider BitPay to allow users to store their crypto assets in “digital cards;” however, users will still spend in fiat rather than crypto. Ready stated that Google has plans for more of these types of partnerships.

Although Google still will not accept digital assets as payments, Ready stated:

“Crypto is something we pay a lot of attention to,” he said, adding: “As user demand and merchant demand evolves, we’ll evolve with it.”

Though its crypto plans are still not fully fleshed out, Ready alluded to Google’s ambitions to be the ultimate connector of the entire consumer finance industry.

In a perhaps unintentional ode to the promise of Web3, the executive said:

“Helping more activity occurs on a free and open web – that naturally pays dividends to our overall business.”

It seems that Google wants to expand its payment method to all possible apps and services. The final goal will be to make Google Pay a comprehensive digital wallet.

Back in October, a crypto marketplace and custodian Bakkt announced a partnership with Google to extend the “reach and usability of digital assets to meet rapidly evolving consumer demand.”

Bakkt users can now add their virtual Visa Debit cards into Google Pay, providing the ability to pay in crypto at a variety of online markets and stores, wherever Google Pay is accepted. Bitcoin payments will be converted into fiat to make these purchases.