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What Is RPC in Crypto?

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Anatol Antonovici

Author

Anatol Antonovici

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Anatol is a crypto and Web3 writer at Cryptonews, where he creates educational articles, guides, and reviews about everything related to crypto.

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Last updated:

March 26, 2025 21:15 EDT

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An RPC, short for Remote Procedure Call, allows applications, wallets, and users to communicate with a blockchain. You can think of it as a messenger that sends your requests to the blockchain and delivers the results back to you.

While public blockchains represent networks of computer nodes distributed worldwide, they are isolated systems that have no direct communication with the outside world. RPC nodes and endpoints act as gateways to a blockchain and interact with its data. For example, you may use an RPC node to check your wallet balance, send transactions, or fetch smart contract data.

In this article, we’ll explain RPC’s meaning, its use cases, and the top RPC providers in 2025.

Key Takeaways

RPCs serve as bridges, sending your requests to a blockchain node and representing a computer running the blockchain software.
Specialized RPC providers offer RPC node hosting services, eliminating the need for regular users to run their own nodes.
RPCs are essential in crypto. They’re the primary link between blockchains and decentralized applications (dApps) like Uniswap or Aave.
Without RPCs, Web3 apps would not work properly.

How Does RPC Work?

RPCs connect dApps to blockchain data. They use a client-server structure, with the dApp acting as the client and the server being the RPC node.

RPC endpoints, which are network locations or access points where RPC processes start, facilitate communication between clients and RPC nodes. An RPC endpoint is a network address or URL to access RPC nodes.

To better understand these components, let’s explore their roles:

RPC Node	RPC Endpoint
An RPC node is a full or light blockchain node that processes RPC requests.	An RPC endpoint is a connection address or URL that helps dApps communicate with an RPC node.
The node has to run blockchain software and maintain a copy of the blockchain history.	It is the access point through which dApps send their requests to the blockchain.
It processes incoming requests from dApps, wallets, and users, responding with relevant blockchain data.	Endpoints don’t process data themselves but simply route requests to RPC nodes.

An RPC node is like a server, and its RPC endpoint is the web address (URL) to access it. RPC providers run their own RPC nodes and offer URLs for users to request blockchain data.

The RPC request-response cycle involves two easy steps:

A client application triggers the RPC process by sending a request to the blockchain with specific instructions on how to perform it.
Next, the RPC node performs the requested operation or retrieves the required info from the chain and delivers it back to the dApp.

In distributed systems like blockchains, RPCs enable communication with the entire network as if it were local. When a crypto wallet verifies a user’s balance, it doesn’t have to store the entire blockchain history. It sends RPC requests to a remote blockchain node, and it ‘feels’ as though it’s accessing the chain directly.

Types of Nodes

Different types of nodes run blockchain networks:

Full nodes store and validate the entire blockchain, requiring significant resources. Once synced with the network, they can query all kinds of information.
Light nodes are smaller and store only essential data. They don’t participate in block validation directly but rely on full nodes. They can query the network but don’t store the chain’s state, so they communicate with full nodes to obtain accurate data.
Archive nodes are full nodes that also record all past transactions and states. Since all past data is stored, they enable the most sophisticated inquiries and analytics.

RPC nodes can be full, light, or archive nodes that provide RPC services, offering a gateway for applications to communicate with the chain.

What Are the Key Functions of an RPC Node in Crypto?

Key functions of an RPC node include:

Querying blockchain data – RPC nodes accept RPC calls from dApps, crypto wallets, developers, and other entities. Based on their requests, the nodes retrieve blockchain data to get account balances, block information, smart contract data, and more.
Sending transactions – RPC nodes broadcast transactions to the blockchain. They validate transaction formats, check validity and transaction status, propagate transactions to other nodes, and return confirmation details.
Smart contract interactions – RPC nodes can access smart contract data, helping dApps better interact with blockchains. They can execute view functions, deploy new smart contracts, and handle contract transactions. Therefore, RPC nodes enable not only smart contract analytics but also deployment.
Returning blockchain data – After querying network data, RPC nodes return relevant information to clients, including account balances, transaction history, smart contract states, etc.

Top Uses for RPC in Blockchain Applications

RPC nodes are used in multiple ways, including integration by dApps, blockchain explorers, crypto wallets, non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces, smart contract developers, on-chain auditors, and more.

Let’s explore some of the top use cases.

DApps and Web3 Applications

Blockchain-based applications use RPC nodes to access blockchain data and interact with smart contracts. dApps use RPCs to send different requests to the blockchain, instructing them to perform certain actions.

For example, Uniswap uses RPCs to interact with Ethereum and other supported chains to access real-time data and execute transactions. When a user wants to swap tokens on Uniswap, the decentralized exchange (DEX) queries an RPC node to fetch the latest token reserve and liquidity pool balances from the blockchain.

Uniswap sends RPC requests to check a user’s token balance before the swap, submit the trade to the blockchain, and check the transaction status. Once the swap is confirmed on-chain, the DEX updates the interface to show the balance.

Thanks to RPCs, dApps build on the promise of decentralization while offering a user experience and accessibility similar to traditional apps.

Blockchain Development

Developers rely on RPC nodes to test and deploy smart contracts on blockchains.

Thanks to RPC nodes, developers interact with blockchains without running full nodes. They can deploy and test smart contracts, query blockchain states, and simulate transactions.

Blockchains supporting the smart contract feature, including Ethereum, Solana, and BNB Chain, rely on RPC nodes to offer real-time access for developers, who can fetch data, execute transactions, and integrate on-chain functionalities into dApps.

Wallets and Crypto Services

Crypto wallets and exchanges use RPCs to access transaction data and handle transactions on behalf of users.

For example, MetaMask, the most popular non-custodial wallet for EVM blockchains, has been using RPC services from Infura, a leading RPC provider. Using RPCs, MetaMask can fetch token and NFT balances and send transactions when users initiate swaps.

Top RPC Providers for Blockchain Networks

RPC providers play a major role in making Web3 apps reliable and efficient. Here are the top five RPC providers today:

Ankr

Ankr is a leading Web3 infrastructure provider, offering RPC solutions across more than 70 blockchains, including Ethereum, BNB Chain, Solana, Avalanche, Sui, Aptos, Tron, Arbitrum, OP Mainnet, Base, and Polygon.

It offers API solutions, decentralized node services, staking solutions, and rollup scaling services.

The company runs over 800 nodes across 12 countries on five continents, including the U.S., the UK, South Korea, Japan, Brazil, India, and Australia. This global distribution ensures that developers can connect rapidly to any blockchain from wherever they are.

Ankr processes over 2.5 billion API requests daily, handling each request in less than a second.

Features

RPC support on more than 70 blockchains
Decentralized infrastructure
Smooth API integration
Staking solutions for multiple chains
Bitcoin infrastructure
Scaling services through Rollup-as-a-Service

Pricing

Ankr offers a free plan for small projects and individual developers. It can handle 30 requests per second across 55 chains.

Larger projects and enterprises can choose between the Premium and Enterprise plans, which cost $10 per 100 million credits and $500 per 6 billion credits, respectively. Both premium plans support about 1,500 requests per second across more than 60 chains and offer a support portal.

Infura

Infura is an RPC node provider that offers a blockchain development suite for building on multiple chains.

Launched in 2016, the company initially focused on Ethereum but has since expanded to nearly 20 EVM chains, including BNB Chain, Avalanche, Arbitrum, Linea, Polygon, Base, OP Mainnet, Blast, and Mantle.

Infura is preferred for its high availability, robust infrastructure, developer-friendly tools, and high-level APIs.

Many reputable crypto projects, including MetaMask, Uniswap, and Compound, use Infura for their RPC needs.

Features

High-quality RPC access on nearly 20 EVM chains
Access to the InterPlanetary Fine System (IPFS) for NFTs
Decentralized infrastructure network
Developer tools, smart contract deployment, and Web3 Infrastructure as a Service

Pricing

Infura supports four pricing plans:

Free – Up to 100,000 requests per day and one API key.
Developer ($50/month) – Up to 200,000 requests per day, 5 API keys, and direct customer support.
Team ($225/month) – Up to 1 million requests per day and unlimited API keys.
Enterprise ($1000/moth or custom price) – Up to 5 million requests per day along with the benefits of previous plans plus auto-scaling and enhanced support.

Alchemy

Alchemy is a leading one-stop solution for Web3 development, offering RPC node services and multiple tools to build dApps.

The platform supports over 35 Layer 1 and Layer 2 chains, including Ethereum, Solana, BNB Chain, Avalanche, Arbitrum, Base, OP Mainnet, Polygon, Sonic, Starknet, Blast, Linea, Flow, Soneium, Scroll, and Sei.

Alchemy also offers multiple APIs for a wide range of use cases and a Web3 account abstraction SDK to simplify wallet operations.

Platforms like OpenSea, SuperRare, Shopify, and Circle use Alchemy RPC and API solutions.

Features

Supernode for efficient RPC services
NFT API, Token API, Transfers API, and other APIs to interact with blockchains
Scaling services through rollups
Smart websockets for retrieving ongoing data from blockchains
Transaction simulation
Smart wallets with no seed phrase and gas fees
Webhooks to receive notifications on different types of on-chain activity

Pricing

Alchemy has multiple pricing tiers based on Compute Units (CUs), which show how much resources an API method needs. For example, the free plan offers up to 100 million CUs per month, equivalent to about 4 million requests. With the free plan, users also gain access to thousands of APIs, a capacity of 30 requests per second, and Discord support.

The ‘Pay as You Go’ plans range from $5 to $2,000 monthly, offering between 11 million to 2 billion CUs and priority support. There is also an Enterprise plan for VIP users.

QuickNode

QuickNode is another widely used all-in-one Web3 infrastructure platform offering RPC and API services for blockchain developers. Its Console API product enables users to embed its premium RPC into their dApps.

The platform aims to help Web3 developers create and scale dApps efficiently.

QuickNode offers access to 64 blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Solana, Bitcoin, TON, Aptos, Sui, Avalanche, Base, Arbitrum, OP Mainnet, BNB Chain, Flow, Linea, Near, Polkadot, Polygon, and Stellar.

The service is used by many high-profile clients, including Dune Analytics, DappRadar, Fireblocks, Nansen, Chainlink, Chainalysis, and Adobe, among others.

Thanks to its infrastructure partners, QuickNode offers many add-ons, such as multi-region transaction broadcast, MEV protection, pricing APIs, NFT APIs, and many more.

Features

Blockchain data access and white-label RPC services
Real-time data streaming from multiple chains
IPFS storage and gateway for NFTs
Rollups and custom chains for scaling dApps
API-based add-ons for multiple use cases

Pricing

QuickNode has five pricing tiers, starting with the free plan, which includes 10 million API credits per month, 1 endpoint, community support, and a throughput of 15 requests per second. On average, a request requires 40 API credits. The Build, Accelerate, Scale, and Business plans cost between $49 and $999 per month.

Pocket Network

Pocket Network, or POKT, is promoting itself as the first decentralized RPC platform. It is run by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) consisting of POKT token holders with voting rights.

POKT represents a marketplace that matches dApp developers with infrastructure providers and node runners. The network hosts 13,000 nodes across 22 countries and supports over 50 blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana, BNB Chain, Polygon, Base, Arbitrum, OP Mainnet, Sui, Near, Avalanche, Tron, and Sonic.

Pocket’s economic model incentivizes RPC nodes to offer dApps reliable Web3 access.

The platform is preparing for the Shannon Upgrade in 2025, introducing relay minting to prove work for trillions of API requests, new use cases, artificial intelligence (AI) features, and tokenomics for POKT.

Features

Fully decentralized RPC ecosystem
Marketplace matching node runners with dApp developers
Monetization opportunity for any node operator
Fast APIs across 50+ blockchains

Pricing

Since Pocket is not a centralized company, it doesn’t have pricing tiers. Instead, it leverages its native token to create a marketplace for node providers, developers, and users. Developers must buy and stake POKT to use the platform services.

Public vs. Private RPC Providers

Developers can choose between public RPC endpoints or setting up their private RPCs.

Public RPCs are open-access endpoints offered by blockchain foundations, developers, and community initiatives. The Ethereum Foundation curates a list of public Ethereum RPC endpoints that are accessible to anyone.

They serve as basic gateways to RPC nodes and are often used for testing and prototype development. However, they come with security risks and slower performance.

Pros

Free to use and accessible, requiring no setup or maintenance
Can be integrated into dApps with minimal configuration
Ideal for testing and developing prototypes

Cons

Can experience performance issues and congestion
Higher risk of security issues, such as data breaches and DDoS attacks
Limited customization options

Private RPCs are self-hosted RPC endpoints accessible only to the organizations that run them. They offer complete control over node infrastructure and RPC configuration. However, they require technical expertise and resources.

They ensure high performance, scalability, and censorship resistance. Companies like Binance or Coinbase rely on private RPCs to interact with blockchains.

Pros

Superior performance and low latency
Robust security and full privacy
Advanced customization for optimized performance

Cons

Private RPCs come with associated costs
Requires ongoing maintenance and management
Setting up a private RPC node requires technical knowledge and resource

Managed RPC services are the ideal balance between public and private RPCs. Providers like Alchemy, Infura, and QuickNode handle all node operations, delivering high throughput and reliability at a reasonable price.

JSON-RPC vs. gRPC

The choice between public and private RPC nodes may influence the RPC protocol involved.

Most public blockchains use a standard called JSON-RPC, which is compatible with Ethereum, BNB Chain, and many other networks. The protocol uses JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) to encode and exchange data between clients and blockchain nodes. It involves a simple request-response model and works over HTTP for public RPCs. Most RPC providers support this standard.

Alternatively, private RPC nodes may use another standard known as gRPC (Google Remote Procedure Call). Unlike JSON-RPC, this high-performance standard uses Protocol Buffers and the HTTP/2 framework, making it much faster and more suitable for enterprise applications.

How to Choose the Right RPC Provider

Choosing the right RPC provider can make a difference if you’re building Web3 applications or analyzing blockchain data.

Factors to Consider

Reliability and uptime — A reliable RPC provider should offer high availability with minimal downtime. You would be interested in services with a Service Level Agreement (SLA) ensuring 99.9% uptime.
Latency and speed — Applications like DeFi platforms and trading bots require fast response times. If you’re building dApps with real-time data, you should look for providers with low-latency infrastructure and global nodes.
Pricing and free tier availability — Most providers offer free plans with limited requests. If you require high-volume transactions or better security, choose a pricing plan that suits your budget.
Supported blockchains — Some RPC providers focus on Ethereum and EVM chains, while others support multiple Layer 1s like Solana, Avalanche, or Sui. Make sure the provider covers all blockchains you plan to deal with.

Comparing Self-Hosted vs. Third-Party RPC Providers

Self-hosting a private node gives you full control over exchanged data. However, private nodes require significant resources, including storage, bandwidth, and ongoing maintenance. This option is suitable for enterprise applications requiring high volumes of data.

Third-party providers like Alchemy, Infura, or QuickNode manage the node infrastructure, offering high speed and scaling at a reasonable price. Although users must trust a third party, these providers do the maintenance and handle all the behind-the-scenes processes, making them ideal for individual developers and startups.

For most users, third-party RPC providers offer the best balance of convenience, speed, and security.

Setting Up an RPC Connection

Connecting to an RPC endpoint allows you to interact with a blockchain network. Whether you’re a developer, researcher, trader, or dApp user, the most straightforward way to connect to an RPC node is through an RPC provider.

How to Connect to an RPC Endpoint

To connect to an RPC endpoint, follow these steps:

Choose an RPC provider – Pick an RPC service like Infura, Alchemy, Ankr, or a public RPC endpoint.
Get the RPC URL – Providers usually share an HTTP or WebSocket URL, e.g., https://mainnet.infura.io/v3/.
Configure your wallet – In MetaMask, go to ‘Settings’ by clicking on the three dots at the top, then select ‘Security & Privacy’ and scroll to ‘Add Custom Network.’ Click the network icon and select ‘Add Custom Network.’ Here, you can insert the RPC URL, chain ID, and network name.

Test the connection – Try fetching wallet balances or submitting a transaction to check the setup.

Common Errors and Troubleshooting

Sometimes, RPC requests may not work properly. Common errors include:

Bad Request – Incorrect HTTP request type or invalid characters.
Unauthorized – This can occur when certain security requirements are not met. For example, the IP may not be in the whitelist.
Not Found – Incorrect URL or method.
Too Many Requests – You may have sent more requests per second (RPS) than your plan allows.
Resource unavailable – The requested resource is not available.
Forbidden – The endpoint is disabled, or your account may be suspended.

Conclusion

RPCs help applications interact with blockchains, which is key in building the Web3 infrastructure. Thanks to RPCs, crypto wallets, dApps, and developers can easily communicate with isolated blockchain systems by exchanging data and deploying smart contracts.

Public RPC endpoints offer free access but come with limitations, while private and managed RPC nodes offer better security, higher speed, and customization. Picking the right RPC provider depends on cost, supported blockchains, latency, and uptime.

Reliable RPC infrastructure is critical for blockchains, ensuring a safe and smooth Web3 experience.