Why scalable RPC infrastructure matters for Web3

A single-region RPC endpoint works—until it doesn’t.

Every decentralized application depends on reliable access to blockchain data. Whether you're building a DeFi dashboard, NFT marketplace, or onchain analytics engine, your DApp communicates with the chain through an RPC interface—usually via a node provider API.

But how that connection is structured under the hood plays a critical role in user experience, system performance, and scaling efficiency. What looks like “just an endpoint” can quietly become your DApp’s biggest bottleneck.

The hidden risk of monoregional RPC endpoints

Most teams start with a single RPC endpoint provider, often hosted in one region. It's simple, predictable, and easy to integrate—until usage scales or your audience grows globally.

Figure 1: The hidden risk of monoregional RPC endpoints; Source: ETHBelgrade hackathon slides

Problems arise when:

• Users in different geographies experience high latency
• Traffic spikes cause delays or dropped requests
• Indexers miss data due to stale sync
• Frontends feel slow—even when the DApp is “working”

This happens because the underlying RPC node infrastructure wasn’t designed for performance.

RPC infrastructure is backend infrastructure

RPC isn’t just a data pipe—it’s a critical service layer.

Treating it like production infrastructure means asking:

• Where are the nodes located?
• Are the nodes always warm, or spun up on demand?
• Is there load balancing across regions and cloud zones?
• How are failures and congestion handled?
• Is polling the only model, or is streaming supported?

These questions affect every interaction between your users and the blockchain.

The evolution: Global RPC architecture

To solve these challenges, the industry has begun moving toward geo-distributed RPC endpoints—an evolution of the traditional RPC provider API model.

Instead of a static endpoint tied to one node, modern RPC providers now offer region-aware routing and backend abstraction. Think of it like a CDN, but for blockchain API traffic.

Figure 2: Global RPC architecture idea definition; Source: ETHBelgrade hackathon slides

Key features of these global architectures include:

• Geo-routing: End users are served from the nearest available node
• Persistent warm nodes: No cold start latency
• Automatic failover across regions
• Streaming support via WebSocket or gRPC
• Live monitoring of performance by region

This approach is especially important for DApps with international users, latency-sensitive use cases (e.g. trading bots), or high-volume data needs.

Case study: The Global Node concept

One example of this shift is the Global Node model, first introduced as an open-source prototype during the ETHBelgrade hackathon. The project, initially called Unstoppable RPC Endpoint, proposed intelligent aggregation of multiple RPC endpoints across cloud providers and regions.

Figure 3: Unstoppable RPC Endpoint architecture; Source: ETHBelgrade hackathon repo

The system evaluated each endpoint in real time based on block height, availability, latency, and load. It then dynamically routed requests to the optimal node—functioning as a smart global load balancer for blockchain traffic.

Now implemented in production by RPC providers like Chainstack, the Global Node approach offers a scalable answer to the blockchain scalability bottleneck—and sets a new bar for RPC provider APIs that need to serve real-time, global decentralized applications.

RPC performance benchmarks that matter

Whether you're self-hosting or using a managed RPC endpoint provider, here are the latency goals your DApp should aim to hit:

If your RPC node setup isn’t hitting these across regions, users will feel the delay—even if your DApp is technically functional.

Figure 4: Global RPC provider benchmark extract; Source: Chainstack Compare Dashboard—Ethereum

Should you self-host your RPC node?

Self-hosting offers control, but not scale. Most internal setups:

• Operate from a single region
• Lack elastic scaling and intelligent routing
• Suffer from cold node startup time
• Require constant maintenance and monitoring

For teams building global decentralized applications, the tradeoff usually isn't worth it. The benefits of using a modern, distributed RPC provider API—with built-in redundancy and performance optimization—often outweigh the costs of managing your own infrastructure.

Figure 5: Costs of managing your own infrastructure; Source: Chainstack

What to look for in a modern RPC endpoint provider

If you're evaluating RPC providers for production use, here are the key questions to ask:

• Are backend nodes geo-distributed?
• Is there region-aware request routing?
• Are nodes persistent and warm at all times?
• Is WebSocket or gRPC streaming available natively?
• Are latency and error metrics transparent?
• Is pricing predictable regardless of traffic?

These indicators help separate basic RPC endpoint providers from infrastructure built to scale with you.

Figure 6: Unstoppable RPC Endpoint differentiation; Source: ETHBelgrade hackathon slides

Bringing it all together

As Web3 matures, the demands on infrastructure are increasing. Fast RPC calls, stable indexers, and low-latency alerts are no longer luxuries—they’re requirements.

If you're building globally, you need RPC architecture to match.

Not just a single endpoint—but a distributed, intelligent RPC node layer that keeps your DApp responsive, resilient, and ready for scale.

The future of RPC is global.

Make sure your stack is too.