Not too long ago, Google, like many other entities that control the tech world, decided that cryptocurrency was bad. It moved to suppress virtually anything that had to do with crypto advertising and operations, severely handicapping the industry. Google has been changing its tune more recently, however, and seems to have warmed up quite a bit to the idea that digital currencies are, in fact, a legitimate form of payment. Whether this stems from the realization that crypto is the future or as simply a smart business move is still debatable, but the underlying reasons aren’t as important as the result. Google’s digital payments platform, Google Pay, has spent the past several months onboarding several crypto-based payment solutions, and this is going to go a long way toward greater adoption. 

Paxful, a peer-to-peer crypto trading platform, was the first to be embraced by Google Pay, paving the way for crypto enthusiasts in dozens of countries to be able to make their purchases using the Google payments solution. Available even where there are no banks, the partnership opened a number of financial channels that many would have never been able to access before. Practically overnight, all that someone needed to be able to be a consumer was an Internet connection. 

Coinbase followed this past March, teaming up with Google Pay so the exchange’s Coinbase Card holders could link their crypto balances to the payment solution. Next up, NewsCrypto, a crypto trading analytics and education platform, was brought into the mix and became the first to allow crypto purchases directly through Google Pay. NewsCrypto offers its own digital token, the NewsCrypto Coin, which can be used to purchase the platform’s advanced trading tools and more. 

As far as a single action leading to global shifts in habits, the acceptance by Google Pay of crypto-based operations is a huge game-changer. The platform has over 67 million users around the world, and the exposure of digital currency as a viable fiat alternative on the payments solution is going to lead to phenomenal growth and adoption. Add to the growing list of previous anti-crypto pundits like Visa and PayPal, both of which are now embracing the digital currency realm, and a very real, very clear picture emerges of what lies ahead for crypto as a form of money.