Google Cloud has integrated Solana with its BigQuery data analytics service, making it easier to access Solana-based data and expanding support to its 20th blockchain network.
Solana’s inclusion in BigQuery was first announced at Breakpoint 2022 in Lisbon and aims to provide improved insights into blockchain analytics, according to a statement. Solana support was expected to go live in the first quarter, Google Cloud web3 leader Nalin Mittal said at the time.
“The Google Cloud team was committed to doing this just before it went live and therefore needed more time to finalize the dataset and ensure it provides a comprehensive view of what’s happening in the chain,” said Dan Albert , executive director of the Solana Foundation, told The Block. .
BigQuery is Google Cloud’s serverless data warehouse with built-in machine learning, artificial intelligence, and business intelligence, allowing users to search massive data sets.
“The Solana ecosystem is growing rapidly and generating new innovations, data and insights every day,” Albert said in the statement. “With this tremendous growth comes an increasing need for the Solana community and the web3 industry at large for quick and easy access to the insights and data produced on our network. We’re proud that the Foundation helped Google Cloud make Solana even better. accessible, transparent and open.”
Anyone from developers to enterprises to individual users can request data from Solana to answer complex questions about transactions, NFT coins, wallet activity and more, according to the Solana Foundation. By leveraging Google’s Bigtable distributed data storage service in addition to BigQuery, the ecosystem can also provide access to archival data from the Solana network.
Get your hands on NFT data
Multichain NFT app Floor is among the first to leverage the Solana integration for new use cases, sending data about Solana NFT sales and listings to the BigQuery platform.
“There’s a lot of interesting data that is somewhat off-chain, but relates to on-chain data that isn’t very available today,” said Chris Maddern, CEO of Floor.
“NFT data in the Solana ecosystem has traditionally been difficult to analyze for the average user, or only available at a high level,” the Solana Foundation said. “By using the data that is publicly available on the chain – for example sales – with some of Floor’s proprietary information, analysts and other users can take a deeper look at what is happening in the world of Solana NFTs.”
“[The Solana community] is thinking ahead, leading and innovating in creating an open ecosystem, and this felt like the right place for us to try it out and see what happens,” Maddern added. “We are happy to share back with the community that has welcomed us with open arms.”
Other possible use cases
According to Albert, the integration also has consequences for promoting the adoption of web3 by web2 companies. “Many traditional technology and financial companies still struggle to understand what blockchain and crypto can really achieve and how it can help them optimize their operations,” he said. “Comprehensive datasets like BigQuery can help companies and other web2 projects better understand how much interest and movement there is in web3 and how consumers are using this technology, so they can make informed decisions about how to integrate blockchain into their business. at.”
Albert said the dataset also allowed Web3 developers to conduct more advanced research, such as using Google Colab notebooks for more detailed analyzes beyond simple SQL queries. “The data available in BigQuery is also much easier to use: it’s parsed and neat for external use, so anyone curious about learning more about web3 can delve into the nitty-gritty details of what’s going on in the Solana ecosystem and also impressive visuals to display network activity,” he added.
Additionally, it is “particularly useful for projects that need to be aware of how user activities relate or are aggregated across chains,” Albert said. “This would include metrics such as network cost comparisons between Solana and other blockchains; how many mints take place in the top three leading NFT favorite chains, and so on.
Google Cloud’s 20th BigQuery blockchain integration
Solana will be the twentieth blockchain integration for Google Cloud’s BigQuery. It initially started offering support for Bitcoin and Ethereum in 2018. In 2019, support for Bitcoin Cash, Dash, Dogecoin, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, and Zcash was added. Last month, 11 additional chains were integrated: Avalanche, Arbitrum, Cronos, Fantom, Near, Optimism, Polkadot, Polygon, Tron and the test networks Polygon Mumbai and Ethereum Goerli.
In addition to BigQuery, Google Cloud also offers Web3 infrastructure services such as validator operations management, including Solana. Google Cloud is also working on bringing Solana support to its Blockchain Node Engine node hosting service.
The Google Cloud integration is the latest to bring infrastructure support to the Solana ecosystem after Visa expanded its USDC stablecoin settlement capabilities to the blockchain in September. Solana’s payment system Solana Pay also integrated with e-commerce giant Shopify in August.
“There’s always a story circulating in web3 that blockchain and crypto will replace many of the systems built by traditional technology,” Albert said of the evolution of web2’s adoption of web3. “From my perspective, it’s not so much about creating completely separate systems, but rather about optimizing the infrastructure we have and broadening access through web3. I see this happening especially when it comes to content creation – allowing creators to better monetize their work through blockchain and royalties – and I also see this happening when it comes to optimizing payment infrastructure.”