diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 6dbdd3c40..5f6cea3d2 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -62,4 +62,7 @@ localnet_config.yaml
 # Relase artifacts produced by `ignite chain build --release`
 release
 
+# SMT KVStore files
+smt
+
 go.work.sum
diff --git a/config.yml b/config.yml
index f21fe2be6..27af27ff8 100644
--- a/config.yml
+++ b/config.yml
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ genesis:
             - endpoints:
                 - configs: []
                   rpc_type: JSON_RPC
-                  url: http://anvil:8547
+                  url: http://localhost:8548
               service:
                 id: anvil
                 name: ""
diff --git a/pkg/relayer/cmd/cmd.go b/pkg/relayer/cmd/cmd.go
index 1f31b70ad..225d52789 100644
--- a/pkg/relayer/cmd/cmd.go
+++ b/pkg/relayer/cmd/cmd.go
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ func supplyRelayerProxy(
 	cmd *cobra.Command,
 ) (depinject.Config, error) {
 	// TODO_TECHDEBT: this should be populated from some relayerProxy config.
-	anvilURL, err := url.Parse("ws://anvil:8547/")
+	anvilURL, err := url.Parse("http://localhost:8547/")
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/relayer/proxy/jsonrpc.go b/pkg/relayer/proxy/jsonrpc.go
index bf7736f33..a037bd567 100644
--- a/pkg/relayer/proxy/jsonrpc.go
+++ b/pkg/relayer/proxy/jsonrpc.go
@@ -162,23 +162,16 @@ func (jsrv *jsonRPCServer) serveHTTP(ctx context.Context, request *http.Request)
 
 	// Build the request to be sent to the native service by substituting
 	// the destination URL's host with the native service's listen address.
-	// TODO_HACK: Currently, the native service's listen address is hardcoded to localhost:8547.
-	// This should be changed to the actual listen address of the native service.
-	// However, the native service 'ws://anvil:8547' causes errors
 	log.Printf("DEBUG: Building relay request to native service %s...", jsrv.proxiedServiceEndpoint.String())
-	destinationURL, err := url.Parse(request.URL.String())
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	destinationURL.Host = "localhost:8547"
-	destinationURL.Scheme = "http" // this is not captured and needs to be set
-	log.Printf("DEBUG: Sending relay request to native service %s...", destinationURL.String())
 
 	relayHTTPRequest := &http.Request{
 		Method: request.Method,
 		Header: request.Header,
-		URL:    destinationURL,
-		Host:   destinationURL.Host,
+		URL:    &jsrv.proxiedServiceEndpoint,
+		Host:   jsrv.proxiedServiceEndpoint.Host,
 		Body:   requestBodyReader,
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/relayer/session/session.go b/pkg/relayer/session/session.go
index c8f2ad30b..0a0f66aff 100644
--- a/pkg/relayer/session/session.go
+++ b/pkg/relayer/session/session.go
@@ -154,7 +154,11 @@ func (rs *relayerSessionsManager) mapBlockToSessionsToClaim(
 	// Iterate over the sessionsTrees map to get the ones that end at a block height
 	// lower than the current block height.
 	for endBlockHeight, sessionsTreesEndingAtBlockHeight := range rs.sessionsTrees {
-		if endBlockHeight < block.Height() {
+		// TODO: We need this to be == instead of <= because we don't want to keep sending
+		// the same session while waiting the next step. This does not address the case
+		// where the block client misses the target block which should be handled by the
+		// retry mechanism.
+		if endBlockHeight == block.Height() {
 			// Iterate over the sessionsTrees that end at this block height (or
 			// less) and add them to the list of sessionTrees to be published.
 			for _, sessionTree := range sessionsTreesEndingAtBlockHeight {