Google Cloud is hiring a team of blockchain experts to capitalize on the move to decentralized Web 3 applications, the company wrote in a blog post Thursday.

• While tech and cloud giants such as Google and Amazon represent the heights of Web 2 centralization, Google is seeing the opportunity presented by newer decentralized blockchain technologies. CNBC was the first to write about the hiring move.

• Heading up strategy for the new group is Rich Widmann, who previously worked in the legal department of Google as product counsel. Widmann tweeted on Thursday about his move.

• Google’s cloud service currently offers tools that developers can use to build blockchain networks, and also counts blockchain firms, such as Dapper Labs, Hedera, Thera Labs and several crypto exchanges, as customers. And Google Cloud also underwent an integration with Polygon to allow developers to more easily analyze on-chain data on the blockchain.

• Among the services Google Cloud plans to offer are providing dedicated node hosting to developers, participating in node validation and on-chain governance with partners, and helping developers and users host their nodes on what it claims is the industry’s cleanest cloud.

• Google declined to comment on how large the new team would be.

• Amazon AWS, the leader in the cloud computing space, has become active in blockchain technology, particularly having to do with financial and payment applications. And infrastructure start-up Alchemy, which is seeking to become the AWS of the blockchain world, recently raised $250 million in a Series C round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) that valued the company at $3.5 billion.

• Crypto exchange Coinbase als RAdded link to blog post and details about services Google Cloud plans to offer.ts, trading, data access and staking – using Coinbase Cloud application programming iAnterfaces (APIs) and blockchain infrastructure.

UPDATE (Jan. 28, 22:29 UTC): Adds link to blog post and details about services Google Cloud plans to offer.