According to Cointelegraph, Consensys, the blockchain company responsible for MetaMask, has announced that it will soon release a solution for a significant issue affecting its MetaMask browser extension. Users have reported that the extension has been writing excessive amounts of data to their solid-state drives (SSDs), potentially reducing their lifespan. A spokesperson from Consensys confirmed the unusually high disk activity impacting certain MetaMask users.
The problem was highlighted by a user known as ripper31337, who reported on GitHub that after installing the MetaMask extension on Chromium-based browsers like Chrome, Edge, and Opera, the extension began writing data to SSDs at a rate of five megabytes per second. This resulted in 500 gigabytes of data being written daily and 25 terabytes over three months. SSDs typically last between five to ten years under normal conditions, but intense usage can significantly shorten their lifespan.
Consensys has acknowledged the issue and stated that its teams are actively investigating the problem, with a fix expected to be released imminently. The spokesperson noted that while browser extension wallets typically write state to disk, the high disk activity reported by some users is unusual. The issue mainly affects users with large state sizes, and Consensys is exploring strategies to reduce state size and the frequency of data fetching when not actively used.
The problem may have been ongoing for several months, as another user, Quanquan, reported a similar issue on May 9, stating that the MetaMask plug-in on Chrome for MacOS wrote 100 gigabytes of data to their SSD in one day. Disabling the plug-in immediately slowed down the data writing. Although the review did not receive a response, it was flagged as useful by two users.
Further reports indicate that the bug is still active, with a user named PopCatMAGA reporting on July 17 that the issue persists. They expressed frustration, noting that many users are unaware of the problem, and claimed that the extension has reduced their SSD's lifespan by 50%. A member of the MetaMask team responded on July 19, assuring users that a solution is being developed to address the bug. The ongoing issue has raised concerns among users, who are eager for a resolution.