Google’s inclusion of Bitcoin wallet balances sparks privacy debate

While some applaud the move toward mainstream adoption, privacy-centric Bitcoin supporters have raised concerns about centralized data aggregation.

Google has expanded its features to allow users to search wallet balances across multiple blockchains, such as Bitcoin, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism, Polygon and Fantom. When entering the wallet address, search results display the token balance by network along with the last updated time.

Users can search three Bitcoin address formats — P2PKH, P2SH and Bech32 — and view current balances and recent transactions.

Incorporating Bitcoin data into search results boosts Google’s accessibility to on-chain activity, leveraging its extensive daily search volume. 

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