Google has broadened its functionalities to enable users to search for wallet balances across various blockchains, including Bitcoin, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism, Polygon, and Fantom. By entering the wallet address, users can access search results displaying token balances by network alongside the last updated time.

The feature accommodates three Bitcoin address formats—P2PKH, P2SH, and Bech32—allowing users to monitor current balances and recent transactions.

Integration of Bitcoin data into search results enhances Google's accessibility to on-chain activity, leveraging its extensive daily search volume. While some commend Google's initiative as a step towards mainstream adoption, privacy-conscious Bitcoin advocates have voiced concerns regarding centralized data aggregation and its implications for privacy.

This recent addition follows Google's introduction of Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domain search results, enabling users to verify wallet balances using readable domain names like “vitalik.eth” for Ethereum wallet addresses.

Google's expansion builds upon its initial launch of Ethereum wallet balance searches in May 2023. Additionally, in 2022, Google introduced a crypto feature allowing certain Ethereum wallet addresses to have their Ether balances tracked within the search engine, eliminating the need to visit Etherscan.

The inclusion of wallet searches signifies a shift in Google's approach. Despite banning Bitcoin-related advertisements in 2018, Google recently reversed its stance, permitting spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) advertisements following approval in the United States in January. ETF products from prominent asset managers like BlackRock now feature in search results.

In October 2022, Google collaborated with Coinbase to enable customers to pay for cloud services with crypto.

Furthermore, Google initiated a countdown to the Ethereum Merge event in 2022, symbolizing Ethereum's transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS), featuring animated pandas moving in synchronization.

In 2023, Google Cloud partnered with Web3 startup Orderly Network to develop user-centric developer tools for decentralized finance (DeFi), aiming to reduce entry barriers and address security concerns—a longstanding challenge in the DeFi ecosystem.