diff --git a/pricenode/src/main/java/bisq/price/PriceProvider.java b/pricenode/src/main/java/bisq/price/PriceProvider.java
index 13b1dc7b0a..863d740acf 100644
--- a/pricenode/src/main/java/bisq/price/PriceProvider.java
+++ b/pricenode/src/main/java/bisq/price/PriceProvider.java
@@ -17,12 +17,15 @@
 
 package bisq.price;
 
+import bisq.common.UserThread;
+
 import org.springframework.context.SmartLifecycle;
 
 import java.time.Duration;
 
 import java.util.Timer;
 import java.util.TimerTask;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 import java.util.function.Supplier;
 
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
@@ -45,17 +48,17 @@ public abstract class PriceProvider<T> implements SmartLifecycle, Supplier<T> {
 
     @Override
     public final T get() {
-        if (!isRunning())
-            throw new IllegalStateException("call start() before calling get()");
-
         return cachedResult;
     }
 
     @Override
     public final void start() {
-        // we call refresh outside the context of a timer once at startup to ensure that
-        // any exceptions thrown get propagated and cause the application to halt
-        refresh();
+        // do the initial refresh asynchronously
+        UserThread.runAfter(() -> {
+            try { refresh(); } catch (Throwable t) {
+                log.warn("initial refresh failed", t);
+            }
+        }, 1, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
 
         timer.scheduleAtFixedRate(new TimerTask() {
             @Override
diff --git a/pricenode/src/main/java/bisq/price/mining/FeeRateService.java b/pricenode/src/main/java/bisq/price/mining/FeeRateService.java
index 43116dd24a..7234e636c8 100644
--- a/pricenode/src/main/java/bisq/price/mining/FeeRateService.java
+++ b/pricenode/src/main/java/bisq/price/mining/FeeRateService.java
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong;
 
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
 /**
  * High-level mining {@link FeeRate} operations.
  */
@@ -34,6 +37,7 @@ import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong;
 class FeeRateService {
 
     private final List<FeeRateProvider> providers;
+    protected final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(this.getClass());
 
     /**
      * Construct a {@link FeeRateService} with a list of all {@link FeeRateProvider}
@@ -56,6 +60,10 @@ class FeeRateService {
         // Process each provider, retrieve and store their fee rate
         providers.forEach(p -> {
             FeeRate feeRate = p.get();
+            if (feeRate == null) {
+                log.warn("feeRate is null, provider={} ", p.toString());
+                return;
+            }
             String currency = feeRate.getCurrency();
             if ("BTC".equals(currency)) {
                 sumOfAllFeeRates.getAndAdd(feeRate.getPrice());
diff --git a/pricenode/src/main/java/bisq/price/spot/ExchangeRateService.java b/pricenode/src/main/java/bisq/price/spot/ExchangeRateService.java
index 6fcf4a6eb2..e1300b6d5a 100644
--- a/pricenode/src/main/java/bisq/price/spot/ExchangeRateService.java
+++ b/pricenode/src/main/java/bisq/price/spot/ExchangeRateService.java
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@ class ExchangeRateService {
         Map<String, ExchangeRate> aggregateExchangeRates = getAggregateExchangeRates();
 
         providers.forEach(p -> {
+            if (p.get() == null)
+                return;
             Set<ExchangeRate> exchangeRates = p.get();
 
             // Specific metadata fields for specific providers are expected by the client,
@@ -136,6 +138,8 @@ class ExchangeRateService {
     private Map<String, List<ExchangeRate>> getCurrencyCodeToExchangeRates() {
         Map<String, List<ExchangeRate>> currencyCodeToExchangeRates = new HashMap<>();
         for (ExchangeRateProvider p : providers) {
+            if (p.get() == null)
+                continue;
             for (ExchangeRate exchangeRate : p.get()) {
                 String currencyCode = exchangeRate.getCurrency();
                 if (currencyCodeToExchangeRates.containsKey(currencyCode)) {
diff --git a/pricenode/src/test/java/bisq/price/mining/providers/MempoolFeeRateProviderTest.java b/pricenode/src/test/java/bisq/price/mining/providers/MempoolFeeRateProviderTest.java
index e15a3e18a7..f9d3fe43cd 100644
--- a/pricenode/src/test/java/bisq/price/mining/providers/MempoolFeeRateProviderTest.java
+++ b/pricenode/src/test/java/bisq/price/mining/providers/MempoolFeeRateProviderTest.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import java.time.Instant;
 
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
+import static java.lang.Thread.sleep;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 
 /**
@@ -66,6 +67,7 @@ public class MempoolFeeRateProviderTest {
 
         // Initialize provider
         dummyProvider.start();
+        try { sleep(1000); } catch (InterruptedException e) { }
         dummyProvider.stop();
 
         return dummyProvider;
@@ -86,6 +88,7 @@ public class MempoolFeeRateProviderTest {
 
         // Initialize provider
         dummyProvider.start();
+        try { sleep(1000); } catch (InterruptedException e) { }
         dummyProvider.stop();
 
         return dummyProvider;
diff --git a/pricenode/src/test/java/bisq/price/spot/ExchangeRateServiceTest.java b/pricenode/src/test/java/bisq/price/spot/ExchangeRateServiceTest.java
index 61d2ffbee6..4b681d68ea 100644
--- a/pricenode/src/test/java/bisq/price/spot/ExchangeRateServiceTest.java
+++ b/pricenode/src/test/java/bisq/price/spot/ExchangeRateServiceTest.java
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ import ch.qos.logback.core.read.ListAppender;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeAll;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
+import static java.lang.Thread.sleep;
 import static java.util.Arrays.asList;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotEquals;
@@ -287,6 +288,7 @@ public class ExchangeRateServiceTest {
 
         // Initialize provider
         dummyProvider.start();
+        try { sleep(1000); } catch (InterruptedException e) { }
         dummyProvider.stop();
 
         return dummyProvider;
@@ -322,6 +324,7 @@ public class ExchangeRateServiceTest {
 
         // Initialize provider
         dummyProvider.start();
+        try { sleep(1000); } catch (InterruptedException e) { }
         dummyProvider.stop();
 
         return dummyProvider;