Hey devs 👋
Just wanted to throw something out there I’ve been thinking about while building lately.
It feels like Web3 development has come a long way — we’ve got better tooling, more stable libraries, and even decent documentation now (most of the time 😅). But ironically, the more mature the ecosystem gets, the more complex it feels to ship something simple.
Between figuring out L1 vs. L2 support, handling wallet integrations (MetaMask, WalletConnect, embedded wallets, etc.), writing secure contracts, indexing data, off-chain infra, bridging support… it’s turning into a whole orchestration project.
Don’t get me wrong — I love the tech. But sometimes I miss the early days when you could write a basic dApp with a simple front end and a few contracts and just… launch it.
So I’m curious:
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How are you all managing the growing stack complexity?
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Are you using frameworks like Foundry, Scaffold-ETH, or third-party services like The Graph / Alchemy to speed things up?
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Any tips for keeping dev workflows lean without compromising security or UX?
Would love to hear how others are navigating the growing pains of building in this space. Let's share some tools, patterns, or even mistakes we’ve learned from — someone else might benefit from it.
Cheers & keep shipping 🚀
Absolutely — happy to help!
Yes, what you're seeing can be totally normal during times of high network congestion. If the fee your wallet automatically set was on the lower end, your transaction might be sitting in the mempool waiting for miners to prioritize higher-fee transactions first.
A few thoughts:
1. Waiting it out:
If you're not in a rush, the tx will likely go through eventually — could be a few hours, could be a day or more depending on how low the fee was and how busy the network is. You can monitor your transaction using sites like:
Just paste in your TXID and you’ll see how it's progressing.
2. RBF (Replace-By-Fee):
If your wallet supports RBF and you enabled it when sending, you can bump the fee. This will broadcast a new version of your transaction with a higher fee to incentivize miners. Not all wallets support this, though, so double-check your wallet’s features.
3. Fee Estimators for Next Time:
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mempool.space (again, really good live data)
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Some wallets like Muun or Phoenix also provide decent real-time fee suggestions built in.
You're handling this the right way — no need to panic. We've all been there. 🙂
Absolutely feel this. 👇
Web3 dev in 2025 feels like building a startup and managing a distributed system and learning 3 new protocols a week. 😅
I started with simple React + Hardhat dApps, and now even MVPs require stitching together chains, nodes, APIs, and 3+ wallets. That orchestration layer you mentioned is real — especially if you're aiming for even halfway decent UX.
Here’s what’s helped me stay sane:
🔧 Dev Stack:
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Frontend: Next.js + Wagmi + RainbowKit (clean wallet UI out of the box)
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Smart contracts: Foundry all the way — fast, flexible, way better DX than Hardhat for me
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Indexing: The Graph when possible, but I’m exploring Subsquid for cheaper/self-hosted options
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Infra: Alchemy for RPC, occasionally fallback to Infura/Ankr if rate-limited
📦 Tips that saved me:
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Treat wallet UX like a product in itself — test every edge case (wrong chain, popup blocked, etc.)
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Use simulation tools like Tenderly before deploying — avoids nasty surprises
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Add automated security linting (e.g., Slither or MythX) into CI early
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Modularize contracts — separating core logic from upgradable proxies, routers, and permissions saves headaches
Honestly though, I still miss the early days too. Back then, deploying a contract felt like an achievement. Now? It’s like step 3 out of 47 😄
Would love to hear what others are doing to keep things lightweight — or if you’ve found any new tools worth trying. Always open to learning something that makes the dev loop faster.
Keep building, dev fam 🚀
