diff --git a/apps/blockchain-node/src/aitbc_chain/app.py b/apps/blockchain-node/src/aitbc_chain/app.py
index d0fe6f9c..2e80fd84 100755
--- a/apps/blockchain-node/src/aitbc_chain/app.py
+++ b/apps/blockchain-node/src/aitbc_chain/app.py
@@ -23,6 +23,14 @@ from .rpc.websocket import router as websocket_router
 _app_logger = get_logger("aitbc_chain.app")
 
 
+def _env_value(*names: str) -> str | None:
+    for name in names:
+        value = os.getenv(name)
+        if value is not None:
+            return value
+    return None
+
+
 class RateLimitMiddleware(BaseHTTPMiddleware):
     """Simple in-memory rate limiter per client IP."""
 
@@ -105,9 +113,11 @@ async def lifespan(app: FastAPI):
     await gossip_broker.set_backend(backend)
     _app_logger.info("Gossip backend initialized successfully")
     proposers = []
-    block_production_override = os.getenv("enable_block_production")
-    if block_production_override is None:
-        block_production_override = os.getenv("ENABLE_BLOCK_PRODUCTION")
+    block_production_override = _env_value(
+        "AITBC_FORCE_ENABLE_BLOCK_PRODUCTION",
+        "ENABLE_BLOCK_PRODUCTION",
+        "enable_block_production",
+    )
     block_production_enabled = settings.enable_block_production
     if block_production_override is not None:
         block_production_enabled = block_production_override.strip().lower() in {"1", "true", "yes", "on"}
diff --git a/cli/aitbc_cli.py b/cli/aitbc_cli.py
index 9a994111..7958bb57 100755
--- a/cli/aitbc_cli.py
+++ b/cli/aitbc_cli.py
@@ -760,15 +760,27 @@ def get_balance(wallet_name: str, rpc_url: str = DEFAULT_RPC_URL, chain_id_overr
         
         # Get account info from RPC
         try:
-            http_client = AITBCHTTPClient(base_url=rpc_url, timeout=30)
-            account_info = http_client.get(f"/rpc/account/{address}?chain_id={chain_id}")
+            response = requests.get(
+                f"{rpc_url.rstrip('/')}/rpc/account/{address}",
+                params={"chain_id": chain_id},
+                timeout=10,
+            )
+            if response.status_code == 404:
+                return {
+                    "wallet_name": wallet_name,
+                    "address": address,
+                    "balance": 0,
+                    "nonce": 0
+                }
+            response.raise_for_status()
+            account_info = response.json()
             return {
                 "wallet_name": wallet_name,
                 "address": address,
                 "balance": account_info["balance"],
                 "nonce": account_info["nonce"]
             }
-        except NetworkError as e:
+        except requests.RequestException as e:
             print(f"Error getting balance: {e}")
             return None
         except Exception as e:
diff --git a/scripts/wrappers/aitbc-blockchain-rpc-wrapper.py b/scripts/wrappers/aitbc-blockchain-rpc-wrapper.py
index d8df2e40..bb906f90 100755
--- a/scripts/wrappers/aitbc-blockchain-rpc-wrapper.py
+++ b/scripts/wrappers/aitbc-blockchain-rpc-wrapper.py
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ os.environ["AITBC_NODE_ENV_FILE"] = str(NODE_ENV_FILE)
 os.environ["PYTHONPATH"] = f"{REPO_DIR}/apps/blockchain-node/src:{REPO_DIR}/apps/blockchain-node/scripts"
 os.environ["DATA_DIR"] = str(DATA_DIR)
 os.environ["LOG_DIR"] = str(LOG_DIR)
+os.environ["AITBC_FORCE_ENABLE_BLOCK_PRODUCTION"] = "false"
+os.environ["ENABLE_BLOCK_PRODUCTION"] = "false"
+os.environ["enable_block_production"] = "false"
 
 # Get RPC configuration from environment or use defaults
 rpc_host = os.getenv("rpc_bind_host", "0.0.0.0")
diff --git a/systemd/aitbc-blockchain-rpc.service b/systemd/aitbc-blockchain-rpc.service
index 94a77860..e981e47a 100644
--- a/systemd/aitbc-blockchain-rpc.service
+++ b/systemd/aitbc-blockchain-rpc.service
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ ExecStartPre=/opt/aitbc/scripts/utils/load-keystore-secrets.sh
 EnvironmentFile=/run/aitbc/secrets/.env
 EnvironmentFile=/etc/aitbc/.env
 EnvironmentFile=/etc/aitbc/node.env
+Environment=AITBC_FORCE_ENABLE_BLOCK_PRODUCTION=false
 Environment=enable_block_production=false
 ExecStart=/opt/aitbc/venv/bin/python /opt/aitbc/scripts/wrappers/aitbc-blockchain-rpc-wrapper.py
 Restart=always