The tech firm says its permissioned Layer 1 aims to be a “credibly neutral” rail for payments and tokenised assets. CME has completed phase-one tests and plans broader trials before a 2026 launch of new services.
Google Cloud is developing a finance-focused blockchain called Google Cloud Universal Ledger (GCUL), now running in a private testnet.
The company positions GCUL as a permissioned Layer 1 designed for regulated participants in payments and capital markets.
The first public signal came in March, when CME Group said it had completed phase-one integration and testing of GCUL and would start direct testing with market participants later this year, targeting new services in 2026.
In a LinkedIn post on August 27, Rich Widmann, Google Cloud’s head of Web3 strategy, described GCUL as “credibly neutral,” adding that it will support Python-based smart contracts to make the network more accessible to institutional developers.
“Any financial institution can build with GCUL,” Widmann said, contrasting Google’s approach with payments players building their own chains. Coverage of the post also set GCUL against Stripe’s ‘Tempo’ and Circle’s ‘Arc’ initiatives.
What Google has said so far
GCUL is a private, permissioned distributed ledger “designed to be easy for financial institutions to integrate and use,” simplifying account and asset management on the network, according to CME’s March announcement with Google Cloud.
CME framed potential gains in collateral, margin, settlement and fee payments as markets move toward 24/7 trading. “Google Cloud Universal Ledger has the potential to deliver significant efficiencies,” CME Chair and CEO Terry Duffy said.
The project is in private testnet now with broader market-participant testing planned this year. Google says a formal launch is aimed for 2026.
How it compares
The GCUL reveal lands amid a rush by large fintechs to control new settlement rails.
Stripe is building Tempo, described as a high-performance, EVM-compatible Layer 1 focused on payments. Meanwhile, Circle unveiled Arc, an open Layer 1 where USDC is native, aimed at stablecoin payments, FX and capital-markets use cases.
Google is pitching GCUL as “neutral infrastructure” rather than a rail tied to a single PSP or a single stablecoin.
The debate
While Widmann calls GCUL a Layer 1, its permissioned architecture has prompted scepticism from parts of the crypto community about using L1 terminology for a network that is not decentralised in the public-chain sense.
Technical specifics on governance, validator operations, interoperability and performance metrics are not yet published; Google says more details will follow.
For banks, acquirers and FMIs, a permissioned, compliance-first ledger run on mainstream cloud may lower adoption hurdles compared to public chains.
The “neutral” pitch could also appeal to institutions wary of building on a rival’s vertically integrated rail. The CME tie-in suggests wholesale payments and tokenised collateral are likely first targets, with retail or merchant settlement paths dependent on future integrations.
