Google and the blockchain haven’t exactly been the best of friends. While Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has emerged as one of the biggest corporate investors in blockchain startups, Google and YouTube have clamped down on crypto ads, and this is all most of us judge them by. However, with the blockchain revolution taking off, some of Google’s elite minds have left the Mountain View-based tech giant to found blockchain startups. And they have gone a step further in forming a blockchain community, the xGoogler Blockchain Alliance.
Advancing Ambitions In the Blockchain Space
The GBA was founded by three ex-Googlers who have achieved great success in the blockchain world. The first is Gifto’s founder, Andy Tian. Gifto is a decentralized universal gifting protocol with over 20 million users. It handles over 25 million virtual gifts per month, and it’s developed on the Ethereum blockchain. Tian is an MIT-trained computer scientist who held the position of Strategic Partnership Development Manager at Google and spearheaded the use of Android OS in China. He was also the general manager of Zynga.
Hitters Xu, the founder of Nebulas, is another co-founder of GBA. Nebulas is a next-generation public blockchain that has been touted by many in the blockchain community as the “Google for blockchain technology.” Xu was part of Google’s Search & Anti-Fraud team. He has since been actively involved in the blockchain community in China and is the founder of China’s first ever blockchain community, BitsClub.
The third founder of GBA is Daniel Wang, a former tech lead at Google. Wang has held many positions since then, including CEO of Coinport Exchange, Senior Director & Blockchain Researcher at Zhongan Technology, and Senior Engineering Director at JD.com. He is currently the founder and CEO of Loopring, a decentralized exchange solutions provider.
GBA aims to bring together Googlers and ex-Googlers who have an interest in blockchain technology so that they can help each other advance their ambitions in the space. With a rapidly growing need for talented minds in the blockchain field, GBA will be a critical community, as it will bring together some of the sharpest minds in technology with years of experience working for Google.
To join the community, one has to fill out a form with details like one’s name, email and location. The form also requires one to state what he or she intends to do in regards to blockchain technology, and how GBA can best assist him or her to advance his or her ambitions in the blockchain space.
A Blockchain Brain Drain?
The blockchain has continued to attract some of the sharpest minds from both Wall Street and Silicon Valley who recognize the game-changing potential of this technology. The fever has even spread to the top business schools, with students at Harvard, Stanford and Wharton increasingly rejecting traditional jobs and choosing to join blockchain startups. This is a huge win for the blockchain community and shows just how far it has come from the days when many corporates discredited and fought it. The movement of elite minds to blockchain startups has been accompanied by an even greater movement of resources, with some of the biggest corporates investing heavily in blockchain startups. One of the leading corporate investors in blockchain startups is Alphabet, having invested in LedgerX, Veem, and Storj, among others.
