Transactions · 46 / 127 · 2 min
Who you ask
A wallet often asks one company what the chain says. That company is a view, and a view can go dark.
A wallet that will not load is not proof the coins are gone.
A worked case
A popular wallet asks one provider for every balance. The provider has an outage. People say the chain halted. The chain did not. The question had been sent to a company.
The question
Your phone does not hold the whole chain. It asks a provider. If the provider stops, the wallet can look empty while the coins are still there.
Their view
A provider can also be late, censored, or wrong for a moment. The check is the same as a website: whose report is this.
One company, asked by the wallet
Most phone wallets do not store the chain. They ask a remote node. Infura, run by ConsenSys, became one of the default answers for Ethereum wallets. When a default answer stops, a great many wallets stop painting balances at the same time. The chain has not necessarily stopped.
A provider can also be ordered, or choose, to hide a class of transaction. The view and the record are different objects. Know which one your screen is.
Read it yourself
These links are the record. They are not a recommendation, and they are not instructions. A news story or a court paper can still be wrong about a detail. The check does not change because a famous name is in the story.
Apply the check
Open a question. The line is about this topic. It is not a verdict that anything is safe.
The provider, if you pay them. Often you do not, and the wallet does.
The provider, for what they show you.
The provider, by silence. Not the keys, which you still hold.
Check yourself
Write it in your own words. The course's answer opens after that. Nothing is sent.
After this you can name the provider your wallet asks, or admit you do not know.