Google pitches crypto custody to banks with key-splitting service set for 2027

Google Cloud has unveiled Multi-party Compute, a crypto custody service for banks, with general availability expected in early 2027. It splits signing keys into isolated shares across separate hardware-backed parties and uses threshold signing, so no single party controls the full key. The service is in private preview and is being tested by financial institutions; Morgan Stanley, Citi, Wells Fargo and OKX attended an Oct. 28 New York symposium. It supports ECDSA on secp256k1 for Bitcoin, Ethereum and EVM chains, with Ed25519 for Solana planned; Alphabet already uses it for its own Solana and Ethereum holdings. Chainalysis found private-key compromises accounted for about 43.8% of crypto stolen in 2024, when total theft was $2.2 billion.