Today, Google and Coinbase announced a collaboration that will allow some Google Cloud customers to pay with cryptocurrencies, starting with web3 companies. However, the deal is not limited to accepting crypto payments.

Coinbase also mentioned that Google would use Coinbase Prime for institutional crypto services such as secure custody and reporting.

Amit Zavery, head of platform at Google Cloud, said somewhat cryptically that this is to “see how we can get involved” in crypto asset management, speaking to CNBC. The TV station assumed that this is intended to diversify Google’s treasury assets into crypto.

However, there is another possible explanation. Google Cloud already has multiple agreements with blockchain protocols to provide node services, such as Hedera DLT and the Flow and Theta blockchains. So you’re just as likely to want to escrow your crypto as part of those deals, potentially including staking services.

Additionally, Coinbase will begin using the Google Cloud Computing service to process blockchain data at scale. And it is integrating its Coinbase Cloud Node service with data from Google’s BiqQuery blockchain, providing a solution aimed at web3 developers.

In January, Google Cloud said it launched a digital asset team to explore the acceptance of crypto payments. A week earlier, Google Labs created a blockchain division and Google Pay announced a new leader who is very crypto friendly. Over time, Labs and Pay’s moves could prove more significant than Cloud’s.

At the height of the latest crypto cycle, Alphabet’s Capital G made an investment in Digital Currency Group, the company that owns Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, Coindesk, Genesis Trading and has a significant crypto and blockchain startup portfolio.