Infura the Metamask service provider, which is one of the most popular smart contract-based wallets in the world, prevented Venezuelans from accessing the Ethereum blockchain. Social media reports about the incident circulated, claiming that it was due to sanctions the infrastructure provider may have placed on Venezuela. Infura stated that this happened because of misconfiguration issues related to other sanctions.
Infura Configuration Disrupts Metamask Support for Venezuelans
Infura is a popular service provider that provides endpoint services for wallet programmers. This left Venezuelans unable to access their funds with Metamask. Users speculated on social media about the possibility that Metamask was not being able to work with Venezuelan IPs after the first Metamask reports.
Ezio Rojas, a Bitcoin-linked Venezuelan attorney, informedSocial media users reported that Metamask is no longer available in this country.
When looking to access the wallet on the Ethereum network, the wallet launches an error stating that it ‘could not connect to the host of the blockchain.’
Further information is available in the report explained that the Infura API revealed a geolocalization message when accessed by a Venezuelan IP, returning an error that said “This service is not available in your country.”
There were many mistakes
For several hours, the Venezuelan blockade was still in place. Infura quickly solved the problem and citizens were able to use Metamask as well other services through its endpoints. Through social media, the company apologized and explained what had happened.
Infura said that it was all a mistake. stating that:
We made a mistake when we changed some settings due to the sanctions directives of the United States. It was our error, and it is a pity that we were not able to correct it.
Metamask reached over 10 million active monthly users in August. It also stated that the platform used Infura endpoints by default to access Ethereum Blockchain data. However, users could change this configuration if they so desired, or in the event of service interruptions such as that which affected Venezuelans.
What do you think about Infura’s mistake that left Venezuelans using Metamask without access to funds for several hours? Comment below.
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