Google is making blockchain data accessible to the public with Google BigQuery, its cloud-based Petabyte-scale data storage solution. With BigQuery, now the Ethereum dataset is available in its entirety. The search behemoth has created a user endpoint for all Ethereum blockchain analysis. Now you can read through all historical data from the Ethereum blockchain.
Ethereum’s ETL project on GitHub has source code taken directly from the blockchain that users can enter into BigQuery to narrow searches. Google isn’t limiting this concept to just the Ethereum blockchain; they are looking for more data and blockchains to improve overall accessibility and analytics.
There is endless data on the Ethereum Virtual Machine, specific API functions for instance, which are not easy to store and view on the blockchain itself. Things like API endpoints cannot normally be viewed, but BigQuery’s OLAP offers the necessary infrastructure for this kind of analysis. Storing and analyzing the data serves a purpose beyond transparency, it can help developers see Ethereum’s architecture in a whole new light and aid in upgrading its design. BigQuery’s data analytics can answer the question “How quickly can a wallet be rebalanced?” for improved balance sheet adjustments.
This isn’t just useful for the Ethereum team; Google Cloud can sync the blockchain to computers with the Ethereum development software Parity on them to assist with building decentralized applications. All information from the public ledger like transactions is now updated daily to the cloud data warehousing solution. BigQuery’s existing Python library additionally allows access to query data tables in Kernels, the free in-browser coding platform.
Now you can instantly discover which smart contracts have the most transactions or the most value transacted. You can search by token standard, for example, to see which ERC-721 or ERC-20 contract has had the most transactions. These tools for analysis are useful to the most experienced developer or Ethereum team member as they are interesting for the average crypto nerd.
It also helps blockchain tech adopters find decentralized applications to fit their personal needs. If you want a game similar to the digital collectible assets CryptoKitties but can’t seem to find any with just a basic Google search, BigQuery uses a similarity coefficient to queue up a list.
Visualization is key to data trend realization. This is where BigQuery comes in to help guide business decisions and improve processes. Being able to view datasets in this way is invaluable. Ethereum is the first to share data with Google, but it is easy to speculate that they will not be the last blockchain to link up with the data giant. There are numerous interesting queries and analyses BigQuery is capable of bringing to both blockchain development and the general public.
