Ethereum’s position as the default smart-contract settlement layer for tokenized finance is facing a new test after Google Cloud revealed plans for a Layer-1 network—Google Cloud Universal Ledger (GCUL)—explicitly aimed at financial institutions and programmable with Python.

Google Cloud Enters The Arena

In a LinkedIn post , Rich Widmann, Google Cloud’s global head of Web3 strategy, said the company’s ledger is “performant, credibly neutral and enables Python-based smart contracts,” adding that “any financial institution can build with GCUL” and that “we’ll be releasing more technical details in the coming months.” He framed the move as a response to the wave of corporate base-layer initiatives: “All this talk of Layer 1 blockchains has brought Google’s own Layer 1 into focus. As a pro

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