TL;DR
- Unichain disabled its public RPC on November 12, 2024, after early developer access details were leaked, causing unintended platform usage and leaving users unable to access their funds.
- The leak allowed users to start using Unichain’s mainnet prematurely, leading to chaos as the platform was not yet live and the canonical bridge was unfinished.
- The decision to disable the public RPC has sparked frustration among users and drawn criticism from industry experts, highlighting the challenges of managing early access.
Unichain, a Layer 2 solution introduced by Uniswap Labs, has recently faced significant turmoil after early developer access details were leaked, leading to unintended usage of the platform.
On November 12, 2024, the team behind Unichain decided to disable its public remote procedure call (RPC) to mitigate the chaos caused by the leak. This move has left many users stranded, unable to access their funds or continue their activities on the platform.
Some details for early developer access to Unichain mainnet have circulated publicly
But Unichain mainnet is not live — and the canonical bridge has not been finalized
Since it is not ready for public use, the RPC for this developer access period has been disabled
Details for…
— Unichain (@unichain) November 12, 2024
Details of Unichain’s Leak
The incident began when details for early developer access to Unichain’s mainnet circulated publicly. This premature exposure allowed some savvy users to start using the Layer 2 solution before it was officially ready for public use.
The Unichain mainnet is not yet live, and the canonical bridge has not been finalized, making the platform unprepared for widespread access. In response, the Unichain team disabled the RPC for this developer access period, stating that details for the public RPC will be posted on their official channels once it is ready.
User Reactions and Challenges
The decision to disable the public RPC has sparked frustration and confusion among users. Many are unsure how to withdraw their funds, as submitting transactions to a chain without an RPC is impossible.
Users have taken to social media to express their concerns, with one user sarcastically commenting, “disables RPC, making it impossible to add network to Metamask … it’s cool bros, just withdraw”. The lack of clear communication and guidance from the Unichain team has exacerbated the situation, leaving users in a state of uncertainty.
Industry Reactions and Criticism
The move to disable the public RPC has drawn criticism from industry experts. Tom Kyser, founder of Gas.zip, noted that it is uncommon for projects to turn off their RPCs, even when frontrunning occurs.
He mentioned that other projects like Scroll, Gravity, ApeChain, Morph, and Shape have faced similar issues but chose to either embrace or ignore the early access. The aggressive search for live RPCs by bridges makes it challenging to launch a mainnet without being discovered prematurely.