Web3 is built on the promise of decentralized, interconnected, and omnichain networks, enabling a seamless flow of data across blockchains. At the heart of this vision are RPC (Remote Procedure Call) providers, the infra workhorses that link decentralized applications to the blockchains they rely on. Yet delivering on this promise is far from simple.
RPC providers face a multitude of challenges, from drastically reducing latency and ensuring accurate, timely data to eliminating rigid pricing models that place an onerous burden on developers. As web3 evolves to accommodate more chains and more moving parts, leading infrastructure providers face the daunting task of improving scalability without compromising on decentralization.
It’s a sisyphean task that calls for a combination of technical nous and the flexibility to incorporate dynamic pricing models, allowing dapps to access the data they demand without penalizing them during spells of rapid growth, when RPC requests can skyrocket.
Making Web3 Work for Everyone
The decentralized design of web3 necessitates challenges that legacy architecture cannot overcome with conventional solutions. Traditional, centralized RPC infrastructure is ill-suited to meet the exacting demands of blockchain protocols, where real-time data integrity, minimal latency, global accessibility, and predictable costs are paramount.
The complexities of web3 infra management are invisible to the average web3 user, simply trying to play their favorite onchain game or view the latest Solana transactions in their preferred wallet tracker. But behind the scenes, there’s a lot going on as dapps and their RPC providers of choice work tirelessly to keep things ticking over.
Many RPC services suffer from geographic dispersion without intelligent routing, resulting in frustrating delays for developers and end-users. For web3 applications that demand near-instantaneous feedback, latency is more than a minor inconvenience – it’s a deal-breaker.
Four Core Challenges in Delivering Web3 Infra
There are a number of primary challenges web3 infrastructure providers face in service delivery, starting with data accuracy. Inconsistent data updates or downtime can lead to failed transactions, undermining trust in dapps and decentralized protocols. Achieving continuous accuracy across dozens of networks simultaneously requires robust infrastructure, intelligent load balancing, and advanced monitoring tools that can handle real-time conditions at scale.
Inefficiencies in pricing models is another bugbear for developers, whereby “use-it-or-lose-it” pricing plans lock projects into rigid subscriptions that may not reflect actual usage. These outdated pricing structures pressure developers into overpaying or underutilizing resources, limiting their ability to scale seamlessly as demand fluctuates.
All of this must be achieved while maintaining the core tenet of web3: decentralization. Centralized RPC ecosystems, reliant on a small number of jurisdictions or node operators, are vulnerable to external pressures. Achieving censorship resistance means distributing infrastructure widely, ensuring no single point of failure or influence.
Finally, there is the challenge of delivering web3 data in an omnichain environment in which multiple blockchains must interoperate smoothly. Many legacy providers aren’t equipped to deliver truly seamless connectivity, leaving developers to juggle multiple suppliers and tools. Without a unified, decentralized infrastructure that elegantly bridges these environments, developers face constant integration headaches and inefficiencies.
Innovations in the RPC Space
Despite these multifaceted challenges, the best RPC providers are pioneering pragmatic solutions. Established players like Alchemy and Infura have leveraged their early start, offering robust, enterprise-grade tooling that simplifies multi-chain connectivity and provides excellent baseline reliability. Yet their semi-centralized architecture and conventional pricing models limit scalability and flexibility.
Elsewhere, emerging decentralized providers like Lava and Ankr are moving toward censorship resistance and more competitive cost structures, using distributed node networks to improve resilience. However, these decentralized platforms still grapple with maintaining consistently high uptime and data accuracy, especially under peak load.
dRPC’s Take on Omnichain Data Delivery
Among the next wave of emerging RPC providers, dRPC has found product-market fit through a powerful blend of decentralized architecture, intelligent routing, and an omnichain mindset. Founded in 2022 to solve fragmentation in web3 infrastructure, dRPC has engineered a solution that consolidates 80+ blockchains and 30+ node providers into a single, unified platform. Rather than forcing DevOps teams to manage multiple services, dRPC oversees all aspects of RPC management, from smart routing and auto-fallback to load balancing and analytics, under one intuitive interface.
At the core of its infrastructure are two key components: Dshackle and Dproxy.
Dshackle is an open-source, forked solution that intelligently routes requests to the most suitable nodes, factoring in location, sync state, and performance. By pairing each request with the ideal node, Dshackle ensures low latency and precise data, even as demand scales across multiple chains.
Dproxy, meanwhile, acts as a dynamic gateway, balancing loads, selecting optimal providers, and tracking real-time performance metrics, enabling data-driven business logic, user authorization, and predictive scaling strategies. This ensures that high-traffic events don’t degrade service quality.
dRPC’s PAYG (Pay-As-You-Go) pricing simplifies how developers consume RPC resources. Instead of forcing them into static subscriptions, dRPC aligns costs with actual usage. This model empowers teams to scale without being penalized, adapting to growth or market shifts effortlessly.
For blockchain foundations, dRPC offers tailored packages designed to support protocol launches, developer outreach, and global node distribution. This approach helps foundations quickly establish a robust infrastructure footprint, fostering developer adoption and accelerating time-to-market for new chains.
What to Look for in an RPC Provider
For web3 projects shopping around for an RPC provider they can rely on, the following boxes should all be ticked:
Efficiency: High uptime, intelligent failovers, and minimal lag are essential for dapps that rely on real-time blockchain data.
User-Centric Design: Superior UX/DX – intuitive dashboards, granular analytics, and customizable integrations – that will give developers powerful and versatile tooling.
Latency Reduction: A globally distributed network of node operators, guided by smart routing, is crucial. Being able to dynamically select nodes close to users leads to split-second response times.
Censorship Resistance: By distributing node infrastructure across multiple jurisdictions and participants, RPC providers reduce vulnerability to external control, ensuring no single entity can undermine network reliability or fairness.
Omnichain Capabilities: As web3 projects increasingly span multiple blockchains, an RPC provider that can unify and streamline data from dozens of networks without compromise is indispensable.
The Future of Web3 Connectivity
The RPC landscape is evolving quickly, driven by escalating demands for scalability, reliability, and flexibility. While established giants like Alchemy and Infura remain influential, and rising decentralized contenders like Lava and Ankr push new boundaries, dRPC’s novel approach, merging decentralized architecture with AI-driven load balancing, omnichain support, and fair pricing, also warrants consideration.
As web3 matures, reliable RPC infra is the cornerstone of a thriving, censorship-resistant, and truly global ecosystem. For developers, foundations, and users, an interconnected blockchain world is only as robust as the RPC providers who route its data between networks, supporting the creation of powerful, feature-rich dapps and unlocking new onchain use cases. Web3 data delivery is complex. But the best RPC providers are rising to the challenge, streamlining access for an army of devs striving to create omnichain solutions in which data flows freely and decentralization comes as standard.
