Google Cloud Does Not Intend to Take EOS Rewards as a Block Producer

"Google Cloud is not getting into crypto mining. This is really an infrastructure play for us," Google Cloud Developer Advocate Allen Day told CoinDesk via a spokesperson.

One, the company that made the EOSIO software that runs the EOS blockchain, announced that Google Cloud had begun preparations to list itself as a candidate to serve as a block producer - one of the 21 nodes chosen by the EOS community to serve effectively the same role as miners on Bitcoin or Ethereum.

When asked if the startup that ran a $4 billion initial coin offering had paid the cloud giant for expressing interest in validating the EOS blockchain, Block.

"There isn't a revenue model for Google Cloud in connection with participating in open-source protocols. Of course, various protocols provide rewards to incentivize node operators to secure network services, but we don't intend to claim those rewards at this time."

"There is always a bit of a learning curve to participating on these protocols. We can't comment on our internal strategy or whether we will support other block producer candidates, but we will be working to support our own candidacy as a block producer," Day wrote.

To support block producer candidacies, each holder of EOS stakes their tokens and then casts their votes in a continuous election for their chosen validators.

The top 21 candidates with the most tokens staked in their favor have responsibility for validating transactions and share in the token inflation from EOS.As of this writing, the least-supported block producer has more than 273 million eos staked in their favor, or roughly $728 million worth of assets, according to EOS Network Monitor.

Since launching, EOS Block Producers have been more and more likely to share block rewards with those who stake to support their candidacy, which Vitalik Buterin famously foresaw prior to the mainnet launch.

One is one of the largest token holders and it began voting for block producers sometime around late May. At that time, the company controlled a little less than 10% of all EOS, making its support quite powerful for any block producer.

Day declined to indicate a timeline for declaring Google Cloud's block producer candidacy, writing, "We hope to do so soon."