- MetaMask has been forced to defend itself over a temporary block on user wallets in Venezuela
- The problem was down to a misconfiguration from its endpoint client Infura
- Users reacted with shock that it was even possible that their MetaMask funds could be frozen
MetaMask has defended itself over accusations that it intentionally blocked Venezuelans from accessing their funds by saying that the incident was an error by its endpoint client Infura, who themselves blamed the issue on an accidental extension of new sanctions directives. Venezuelan users began to report yesterday that they were being blocked from accessing their MetaMask wallets, a situation that Infura said it resolved once it was pointed out to them. However, the issue has left both Infura and MetaMask facing a PR disaster given the ethos of freedom and decentralization in the crypto space.
MetaMask Blames Accidental Extension of U.S. Sanctions
Infura took to Twitter yesterday to explain how MetaMask users in Venezuela found themselves temporarily locked out of their accounts, putting the blame down to an accidental overreach when applying new U.S. sanctions:
In response to the concerns we have been hearing, we want everyone to know that we corrected the problem that so many of you have pointed out. In changing some configurations as a result of the new sanctions directives from the United States and other jurisdictions, we
— Infura (@infura_io) March 3, 2022
This led to many finding out for the first time that MetaMask has an uncomfortable level of control exerted over it:
So this and MetaMask are completely centralized and you control who does what with the resources in their wallets. Is that what you’re saying?
— Sean (@SeanG294) March 3, 2022
MetaMask gave its own side of the story shortly afterwards, which was to point the finger at Infura and to say that users could change their endpoint if they didn’t want anything to do with Infura anymore:
MetaMask is a client-side wallet that strives to make the blockchain maximally accessible to everyone. Infura had a misconfiguration this morning, but it has been corrected now. https://t.co/CYAhvGunHo
— MetaMask 🦊💙 (@MetaMask) March 3, 2022
However, this didn’t silence critics, despite the fact that the incident hadn’t been intentional, with many pointing out that it was the fact that such a geo-block was even possible in the first place that should be of concern:
If Metamask/Infura is open and willing to block countries like Venezuela by IP addresses, it’s only a matter of time until they are forced by regulators to censor individual people’s IP addresses. We need alternatives immediately, hoping that Alchemy and others don’t do this
— Larry Cermak (@lawmaster) March 3, 2022
Indeed, the news that there was even the potential for their funds to be locked seems to have startled some MetaMask users and reinforces the importance of knowing exactly who controls your crypto wallet, and therefore your funds.
