Google To Add Bitcoin Support For Google Wallet

Bitcoin remains a mystery to many in Silicon Valley. However, many analysts and experts think that the digital currency's future lies in the payments business, a $500 billion dollar industry for tradition financial institutions like JP Morgan and Visa.

The problem with current payment technology is that, while effective, it is very slow, inefficient, and vulnerable to hacks and cyberattacks. Bitcoin, while it has many problems of its own, solves a number of the issues the outdated payment technology has been struggling with.

It seem like tech giants in Silicon Valley have taken notice of the crypto currency too. According to this Reddit post, Google GOOG is planning on adding Bitcoin to its payment system. A Reddit user who claims to have spoken to Sridhar Ramaswamy, the Google senior vice president in charge of Google Wallet, said the company is gauging interest in the crypto-currency.

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According to the Reddit post, Google vice president of product management Ariel Bardin asked them to pose a question on Google Moderator asking, "What would I want Google to do with bitcoin?" The question currently has 223 votes and counting. This goes to show that, while traditional financial institutions may be reluctant to adapt to Bitcoin, tech behemoths like Google have no problem incorporating the growing digital technology.

The user says he or she emailed Vic Gundotra, the Google senior vice president in charge of social. Gundotra replied saying that the company was “paying attention” to Bitcoin and carbon-copied Ramaswamy, who opened up dialogue with the user.

Bitcoin certainly has its advantages, and is becoming more and more popular for retailers. Major companies like overstock.com have been accepting Bitcoin as payment, and companies like Zynga, eBay, and Paypal have been following suit. It also seems like Bitcoin has the support of the U.S. Federal Reserve and former Fed Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, as well.

The support of Google, one of the biggest tech companies in the world, would be quite a coup for the digital currency and help solidify its validity as a major currency.

At this time, Google had yet to comment. We will update this post with a response, if necessary.