Google will invest $1 billion in CME Group as a part of long-term cloud computing deal

Google invests $1 billion in the Chicago Mercantile Group (CME) as the company agrees to a 10-year deal of onboarding to the Google Cloud Platform.

Alphabet Inc’s Google Cloud announced a significant deal with the CME Group to move CME’s futures and options market to the cloud over 10 years. The exchange operator will begin moving its technology infrastructure to Google Cloud next year. The deal has several components, including an investment of $1 billion by Google into CME. The two companies will develop risk mitigation tools and other user benefitting platforms for people entering the space of ‘derivatives,’ which are financial instruments instead of assets.

The deal with CME signifies a massive win for Google’s cloud business, which contends against Microsoft and Amazon for hefty, lucrative contracts from blue-chip Fortune 500 companies.

The partnership also gives Google a foothold in the financial services sector as the industry starts to invest big money in cloud computing services. The companies reported that Alphabet’s $1 billion equity investment was in the form of non-voting convertible preferred stock of CME.

The CME group has recently been putting the focus on offering crypto-focused financial services. The Chicago-based has been expanding its crypto offerings with micro Bitcoin, and Ether futures as demand for the second-largest digital asset by market valuation continues to rise. Its partnership with Google would help CME provide easy access for more market participants, streamline IT infrastructure, optimize costs, and other operations.