Google previews Multi-Party Compute custody system for banks handling crypto and tokenized assets

Google is set to present a new security system for banks and other financial institutions that hold and move cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets. The product, called Google Multi-Party Compute, will be shown at the company's first digital assets symposium in New York City on Wednesday.

The service is in private preview and is not generally available. Google told CoinDesk that several design partners and major financial institutions are testing it, though it did not name them. Alphabet, Google's parent company, has begun using the system to protect its own digital assets on the Ethereum and Solana blockchains, without specifying which assets. Google plans to release it commercially in early 2027 and has not announced pricing.

Multi-party computation splits a private key into fragments spread across separate systems, so no single machine holds the whole key. Google says the complete key is never stored in one place, which limits the damage if one machine is compromised. The company also says customers keep control of their key material and that Google cannot read it in unencrypted form, even when key shares sit on its infrastructure.

The technology itself is not new to the sector. Google published guidance in 2023 on building MPC-based digital-asset systems with its Confidential Space infrastructure, and it already offers Cloud Key Management Service and Cloud HSM for managing cryptographic keys. The company says this is its first dedicated MPC custody product for cryptocurrencies, bundling signing, transaction policies and key recovery so customers need not assemble them separately. Transactions can be checked against institutional rules before signing, which could block transfers that exceed set limits or lack required approvals.

Google's Rich Widmann, director of digital assets strategy at Google Cloud, said digital asset adoption and tokenization are at an inflection point and that regulated institutions need scalable, proven infrastructure.

Key compromise remains a major source of losses. Chainalysis reported that compromised private keys made up 43.8% of cryptocurrency stolen in 2024, and DeFiLlama data showed blockchain projects had lost a cumulative $16.69 billion to hacks by June, roughly 40% tied to private-key compromises. Recent cases include a roughly $25 million attack on Resolv and a June breach at Humanity Protocol that drained more than $32 million.

Google also presents the product as a response to AI-enabled attacks and possible quantum threats. It notes, however, that its protections address compromised credentials and unauthorized transactions, not a hypothetical break of the underlying cryptography, and no AI system has been shown to break Bitcoin or Ethereum signatures.