diff --git a/src/main.zig b/src/main.zig
--- a/src/main.zig
+++ b/src/main.zig
@@ -119,9 +119,6 @@
     // start: loads active hosts from DB, spawns subscriber threads
     try slurper.start();
 
-    // pre-populate resolver queue with all known active DIDs
-    val.warmCache(&dp);
-
     // start GC thread (runs every 10 minutes)
     const gc_thread = try std.Thread.spawn(.{}, gcLoop, .{&dp});
 
diff --git a/src/validator.zig b/src/validator.zig
--- a/src/validator.zig
+++ b/src/validator.zig
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
 const std = @import("std");
 const zat = @import("zat");
 const broadcaster = @import("broadcaster.zig");
-const event_log_mod = @import("event_log.zig");
 
 const Allocator = std.mem.Allocator;
 const log = std.log.scoped(.relay);
@@ -100,27 +99,6 @@
         for (self.resolver_threads[0..count]) |*t| {
             t.* = try std.Thread.spawn(.{}, resolveLoop, .{self});
         }
-    }
-
-    /// pre-populate the resolve queue with all active DIDs from the database.
-    /// call after slurper.start() so subscribers are already running.
-    pub fn warmCache(self: *Validator, persist: *event_log_mod.DiskPersist) void {
-        var result = persist.db.query(
-            "SELECT did FROM account WHERE status = 'active' AND upstream_status = 'active' ORDER BY uid ASC",
-            .{},
-        ) catch |err| {
-            log.warn("cache warming: query failed: {s}", .{@errorName(err)});
-            return;
-        };
-        defer result.deinit();
-
-        var count: u64 = 0;
-        while (result.nextUnsafe() catch null) |row| {
-            const did = row.get([]const u8, 0);
-            self.queueResolve(did);
-            count += 1;
-        }
-        log.info("cache warming: queued {d} DIDs for resolution", .{count});
     }
 
     /// validate a #sync frame: signature verification only (no ops, no MST).