Qtum, a project that began as a bitcoin-blockchain hybrid, is expanding its reach by adding Google's Cloud Platform to its list of software partners.

The offering is simple: a $15 per month virtual machine that users can spin up and run instantly on the Cloud Platform. The software, available here, allows users to "develop and deploy [their] own smart contracts from [the] ready-to-use GCP VM featuring Qtum core, soldity, solar (smart contract deployment tool) and Qmix web IDE."

The key, according of CIO Miguel Palencia, is simplicity.

"Where launching a node was once an intensive and complex process, Qtum's new developer suite introduces helpful shortcuts and tools to make it faster and easier," he said. "With a more accessible technology, we hope to open up and expand the Qtum community to include people with a broader range of experience — from experts to the everyday user."

The code available on Google Cloud is a copy of the Qtum compute engine and offers a developer environment and full node on the Qtum blockchain. Users can also use it as a testbed for code forks, dapps, or staking.

This announcement in no way makes Qtum an official Google partner as anyone - from purveyors of the CMS Wordpress to creators Ethereum dev kits - can launch a product on the Cloud Platform. It simply makes it easier to spin up a Qtum virtual machine for a few dollars per month.

The Qtum token has a market cap of $232,216,410 and is currently trading. The company raised $1 million in 2017 and has kept building in the intervening three years.