RPC Provider Risk

Definition ∞ RPC provider risk refers to the security and operational vulnerabilities associated with relying on third-party Remote Procedure Call (RPC) service providers to interact with a blockchain network. These providers act as intermediaries, relaying user requests to the blockchain and returning responses. If an RPC provider is compromised, suffers downtime, or acts maliciously, user transactions could be censored, delayed, or exposed to privacy breaches. It represents a potential point of centralization and failure for decentralized applications.
Context ∞ RPC provider risk is a growing concern within the decentralized application (dApp) ecosystem, often discussed in crypto news regarding infrastructure reliability and decentralization. The discussion frequently involves the trade-off between convenience and security, as many users and developers rely on these centralized services for ease of access. Efforts to mitigate this risk include promoting decentralized RPC networks and encouraging users to run their own nodes. The goal is to reduce reliance on single points of failure and enhance the censorship resistance of dApps.