Lately, people keep asking me: how come on-chain data “lags a bit”—is it because my internet isn’t great? Basically, a lot of the time it’s the indexer/Subgraph/RPC queuing up, like an old radio turning stations; the signal isn’t gone, it just has to sort out the static first. Once the RPC rate-limits, it’s even more obvious—you refresh a lot, it basically freezes for a second, the data arrives a step late, but your emotions get there ten steps ahead.

Over the past couple of days, the unlock calendar has been dug up again, and everyone stares at the “selling pressure” like it’s an alarm clock. But what you see the moment you look at it may already be a “paraphrased” version of on-chain reality… My roommate even complained that I watch the block explorer in the middle of the night like I’m listening to Morse code; then the page freezes and I end up blaming the market for not playing fair. Anyway, now when I look at data, I assume there’s a bit of delay, so I try to slow down my mindset first.