- Vitalik Buterin has proposed replacing Ethereum’s EVM with the faster, simpler RISC-V architecture to boost efficiency and scalability by up to 100x.
- If adopted, this game-changing upgrade could help Ethereum close its speed gap with rivals like Solana and spark renewed market momentum
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is once again shaking up the blockchain world—this time with a bold proposal to replace the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), the core of Ethereum’s execution layer. His preferred alternative? RISC-V, an open-standard instruction set architecture that could drastically enhance Ethereum’s speed and scalability.
In a recent post, Buterin emphasized that swapping EVM for RISC-V would not only simplify Ethereum’s execution layer but could also result in “100x efficiency gains,” especially in zero-knowledge (zk) proof systems. According to him, the current EVM setup is one of Ethereum’s major bottlenecks when it comes to scalability and zk-EVM compatibility.
Also read: Pi Network Unveils Roadmap Without Timeline as $27M Withdrawal Sparks Confusion
“This overhaul aims to greatly improve the efficiency of the Ethereum execution layer… it is perhaps the only way to do so,” Buterin explained.
Buterin isn’t alone in his assessment. Kshitij Kulkarni of zk-focused Succinct Labs noted that the EVM’s inefficiencies add a staggering 800x overhead to zkVM proving times. In contrast, he said, RISC-V could dramatically streamline these processes.
Uma Roy, another Succinct Labs developer, added, “By replacing EVM with RISC-V… we can up the gas limit on L1 by orders of magnitude, while preserving verifiability.”
Ethereum has long lagged behind faster competitors like Solana, whose transaction speed is over 90 times faster. But if implemented, this proposal could finally close that gap and redefine Ethereum’s performance metrics.
Market sentiment is already shifting. After lingering in negative territory earlier this month, ETH’s social volume and Relative Strength Index (RSI) have both shown signs of recovery. On the 12-hour chart, ETH’s RSI recently crossed the 50-mark, indicating growing demand.
Adding to the excitement, an AI-based crypto analyst, AIXBT, projected a price floor of $3,000 for ETH, anticipating a testnet launch for RISC-V by Q3 2025.
While it’s still early days for this proposal, Buterin’s vision could usher in a new era for Ethereum—faster, more scalable, and more competitive than ever before.
