Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s co-creator and chief figurehead, shared a new proposal on Ethereum’s primary developer forum, where he championed a significant overhaul of the network’s execution layer. His suggestion involves replacing the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) bytecode with the RISC-V instruction set to improve efficiency and address long-term scaling problems. Not only would this shift affect fundamental smart contract functions (i.e., accounts and storage), but it will also change how contract code is compiled and run.
The EVM Is A Crucial Component Of Ethereum’s Architecture
Ethereum isn’t a physical machine but a virtual one, operating across countless computers (or nodes). The EVM manages the state of the blockchain and enables smart contract functionality – it’s a computation engine that can switch between various states. Lines of code execute exactly as programmed in Ethereum transactions and decentralized applications (dApps). Increased activity on the Ethereum network can lead to a higher demand for Ether since it’s needed to pay gas fees. The latest ETH price prediction suggests that Ethereum could break past its resistance levels.
When developers write smart contracts in languages like Solidity or Vyper, the EVM executes the bytecode (opcode) based on a pre-defined logic. The Ethereum network’s validators check and append transactions to blocks, ensuring agreement on the current state of the network and preventing manipulation. Gas is consumed in proportion to each operation. Many blockchains use the EVM to build their own chains, including Polygon, Arbitrum, and Avalanche, to name a few. Layer-2 solutions are built atop Ethereum to improve scalability and reduce gas fees.
Transaction Costs On Ethereum Have Dropped To Their Lowest Levels
Ethereum’s income from fees is at its lowest level since 2020, and this decrease is largely due to a transition in activity to Layer-2 networks like Arbitrum, Optimism, or Base and contract calls rather than base-layer transactions. When fewer people transact on Ethereum, it indicates decreased interest in the network, potentially leading to lower demand for Ether. While there’s no direct and immediate correlation, a sustained period of low transaction activity could put downward pressure on ETH’s value over time, as there are concerns about the long-term sustainability of the network.
Investors could be waiting for clarity before resuming their usual trading volume since global economic conditions are shifting rapidly and play a crucial role in shaping the crypto market. Traditional and crypto markets alike experienced a decline after U.S. President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on April 2. Cryptocurrencies have been increasingly correlated with stocks and bonds. However, traders have continued to be attracted to Ethereum, especially since the launch of spot Ethereum ETFs, which offer ease of access and diversification.
Buterin’s Proposal Comes Ahead Of The Pectra Upgrade
Vitalik Buterin’s idea to substitute the execution engine of Ethereum, the EVM, with RISC-V, an open-source instruction set architecture, precedes the Pectra upgrade, which is scheduled for May 7. Several Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) included in this upgrade will improve the efficiency, security, and scalability of the network. This can attract more users and investors, but Pectra can create temporary issues, meaning there’s a risk involved. The upgrade went live on the Holesky testnet in February 2025 and was launched on Sepolia in March.
The Pectra upgrade builds on the Dencun hard fork, which has advanced blob transactions that can store up to 128 kb of data. Equally, the Dencun upgrade set the stage for more scalable rollups, which offload the cost of execution and verification off-chain. Pectra enables Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs) to delegate execution to a smart contract, and this authorization is recorded on the Ethereum network. EIP-7702 bridges the gap between traditional wallets and smart accounts, and it was created in response to the limitations of EIP-3074.
The RISC-V Architecture Could Offer Efficiency Gains Of Over 100x
The development of the RISC-V standard commenced in 2010 when researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, created a simple yet powerful instruction set architecture (ISA) that could be used by anyone with minimal restrictions. RISC stands for Reduced Instruction Set Computing. The V represents the 5th version of the Isa codebase. The open-source (and royalty-free) instruction set architecture has witnessed limited adoption in blockchain ecosystems.
Polkadot has integrated the RISC-V technology into its architecture because it’s suitable for conversion into zero-knowledge-proof circuits. The RISC-V architecture, together with the LLVM compiler, supports smart contract development using languages like Rust while guaranteeing support for building the execution layer of ZK native chains. PolkaVM was released after many weeks of work. This move represents a shift from the previous WebAssembly (WASM) for efficient and deterministic blockchain runtimes. Developers can even continue using Solidity on Polkadot.
Transitioning from the EVM to RISC-V could be a game-changer for Ethereum, leading to improved efficiency and lower fees for transactions. As opposed to the complex and resource-intensive model that is the EVM, RISC-V is designed to be modular and impactful. According to Vitalik Buterin, switching from the EVM to RISC-V will improve the efficiency of Ethereum’s execution layer, solving the outstanding challenges posed by scaling and simplifying Ethereum’s architecture. This could help Ethereum become more competitive and go against the likes of Solana.
Is There A Catch In Implementing RISC-V?
After years of development, Ethereum is taking a somewhat counterintuitive approach and raises the question of whether RISC-V is the winning solution. Implementing the novel open-source instruction set architecture includes costs such as intellectual property fees, development resources, and membership fees for those interested. Since the transition could introduce bugs or compatibility issues that could disrupt the ecosystem, the support of the community is of the essence.
The good news is that Ethereum is backward compatible, which means that it maintains a high degree of interoperability between modern and legacy systems. Existing dApps will stay the same. Moreover, developers can continue using Solidity or Vyper, which will be compiled using RISC-V bytecode instead of EVM bytecode. RISC-V is highly adaptable, therefore allowing implementers to amend processors for specific workloads, such as high-performance computing. We’ll just have to wait and see how fast the Ethereum ecosystem can adapt.