Altcoins News

Story: Is GCUL an ‘XRP Killer’? Critics Question Google’s Centralized Blockchain

By James Thorp

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What Is GCUL?. The Google Cloud Universal Ledger is being promoted as a secure and scalable blockchain-like…

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Why Some Call It an ‘XRP Killer’. XRP Ledger, Ripple’s blockchain, is widely used for cross-border payments and liquidity solutions…

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The Centralization Criticism. Despite its potential, critics insist that GCUL is not a true blockchain.

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Is GCUL Really ‘Credibly Neutral’?. At start, a Google executive reportedly described GCUL as “credibly neutral,” a claim that drew…

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Efficiency vs. Decentralization. For some observers, the debate boils down to what users and institutions value most: efficiency or…

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A New Walled Garden?. One of GCUL’s key selling points is its potential to reduce fragmentation in digital finance by…

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The Verdict. So, is GCUL really an “XRP killer”? The answer may depend on perspective.

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Google has entered the blockchain conversation in a big way with the start of its Google Cloud Universal Ledger (GCUL), a private and permissioned network designed to manage the…

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The Google Cloud Universal Ledger is being promoted as a secure and scalable blockchain-like system for financial institutions and enterprise clients.

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Google describes the platform as a “partnership model” that complements existing business frameworks.

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Supporters of GCUL argue that Google’s vast infrastructure, brand trust, and financial muscle could attract major financial players who might otherwise have turned to XRP.

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Despite its potential, critics insist that GCUL is not a true blockchain. By being permissioned and centrally managed, it functions more like a database controlled by Google than…

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Yann Régis-Gianas, Head of Core Engineering at Nomadic Labs, explains that decentralization is not just a buzzword—it’s what gives blockchain its resilience, neutrality, and…

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Similarly, Shahaf Bar-Geffen, CEO of COTI, emphasizes that while GCUL may deliver efficiency, it diverges sharply from the ethos of public blockchains like Ethereum or XRPL.

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Bar-Geffen challenged the idea, noting that if Google controls node participation and data flows, then neutrality is at best an aspiration, not a reality.

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