Vitalik Buterin Suggests Replacing Ethereum’s EVM with RISC-V

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed switching the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) to RISC-V as the new foundation for smart contracts.

Buterin argued that this change could improve the efficiency of the network’s execution layer and address long-term scaling problems.

Solution to Scaling Challenges

In an April 20 Ethereum Magicians forum post, he explained that the main reason for the idea is to improve the way zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machines (ZK-EVMs) work since they are key to scaling the network.

“The beam chain effort holds great promise for greatly simplifying the consensus layer of Ethereum,” he wrote. “But for the execution layer to see similar gains, this kind of radical change may be the only viable path.”

Right now, Ethereum code written in languages like Solidity is first turned into EVM instructions and then converted again to work with zero-knowledge tools. Buterin’s solution is to remove that extra conversion step and let developers write code that directly goes to RISC-V.

This could make proof generation more than 100 times faster in some cases by reducing the prover cycles required for processes like state updates, block execution, and input deserialization. This is because RISC-V is more compatible with proving systems and avoids many of the inefficiencies in the current setup.

Notably, this change would not affect how users interact with Ethereum. Smart contracts would still function as usual, and existing contracts would continue to run and interact with new ones written in the updated format.

Several implementation options are being explored, including running RISC-V and EVM contracts side-by-side, using a RISC-V-based EVM interpreter for legacy support, or fully integrating the interpreter into Ethereum’s protocol, which could allow future support for other VMs like Move.

The Ethereum co-founder pointed to Nervos, a blockchain already using RISC-V, as an example of how this system can be applied successfully. He also mentioned the potential benefits of switching the main hash function to a faster, proof-friendly version to enhance performance further.

Ethereum’s Challenges

This proposal comes at a time when Ethereum’s network usage is at multi-year lows. Santiment data shows that the average transaction fees dropped to $0.16 in April, the lowest figure recorded since 2020. The drop is due to a decline in Layer 1 activity as users move to Layer 2 solutions for faster and cheaper transactions.

Meanwhile, Ethereum continues to face pressure from newer chains like Solana and Sui, which offer faster performance and lower fees. Although the upcoming Pectra upgrade is scheduled for May 7, Buterin’s post suggests that deeper structural changes may be required for the blockchain to remain competitive and scalable.

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