Ethereum, the world’s leading smart contract platform, may soon experience a groundbreaking shift. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed replacing the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) with RISC-V — a move that could redefine how smart contracts operate on the blockchain. The goal? Better scalability, enhanced performance, and long-term sustainability.
What Did Buterin Propose?
In a post shared on the Ethereum Magicians forum on April 20, 2025, Vitalik Buterin outlined a forward-thinking proposal. He suggested that Ethereum should transition its smart contract computation engine from the EVM to RISC-V, an open-source instruction set architecture. According to him, this shift could drastically simplify the Ethereum execution layer and eliminate long-term scalability bottlenecks.
The EVM, while a central pillar of Ethereum’s success, has become increasingly inefficient. Buterin believes that by adopting RISC-V — already used in many zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machines (ZK-EVMs) — Ethereum could see massive improvements in proving efficiency.
Why RISC-V Matters for Ethereum
RISC-V isn’t new to the tech industry. It’s a widely respected, hardware-standard instruction set used across industries for performance-intensive applications. Interestingly, ZK-EVMs currently translate Ethereum smart contract operations into RISC-V to produce cryptographic proofs. This extra translation step is both time-consuming and resource-intensive.
Buterin’s proposal bypasses this step entirely. Instead of converting Ethereum operations into RISC-V as an afterthought, he recommends compiling smart contracts directly into RISC-V. This would streamline the proving process and significantly enhance performance, especially for zero-knowledge rollups.
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Continued Support for Solidity and Vyper
One of the strengths of this transition is that popular Ethereum programming languages such as Solidity and Vyper will remain functional. These languages would still be used to write smart contracts. However, instead of compiling into EVM bytecode, they would compile to RISC-V bytecode.
This means developers don’t have to abandon the tools and knowledge they’ve built over the years. The change is more about the computation back-end, not the way developers write code.
What Will Stay the Same?
It’s important to note that Ethereum’s core smart contract design principles will not be altered. Buterin has made it clear that the proposed changes won’t affect:
- Inter-contract communication
- Smart contract abstractions
- Current account structure
The transition is targeted at Ethereum’s execution backend, aiming to modernize how code is run without disrupting the existing ecosystem. Backward compatibility will be maintained, allowing legacy EVM-based contracts to coexist and interact with new RISC-V-based ones.
Potential for Major Efficiency Gains
According to Buterin, switching to RISC-V could improve proving efficiency by 50 times or more in some cases. This would be a monumental improvement for Ethereum’s scalability roadmap, especially when compared to fast monolithic blockchains like Solana and Sui.
The increased efficiency would give Ethereum a significant edge in the zero-knowledge space. More importantly, it would allow Ethereum to handle more complex workloads without bloating the network or sacrificing decentralization.
Timing and Context
Buterin’s proposal comes at a time when Ethereum is experiencing multi-year lows in L1 activity. As per data from Santiment, the average transaction fee dropped to just $0.16 in April, the lowest level since 2020. This decline is tied to a migration of users and developers toward layer-2 solutions, where transactions are cheaper and faster.
While Layer-2 rollups have relieved congestion, they also reduce the revenue Ethereum earns on its mainnet. As a result, Ethereum must look for more sustainable improvements to stay relevant and economically secure.
Ethereum Pectra Upgrade is Not Enough?
Although the highly anticipated Pectra upgrade is scheduled for May 7, Buterin’s recent proposal suggests a deeper rethink is required. Incremental updates may not be enough to future-proof Ethereum.
To stay competitive, Ethereum must not only scale but also optimize its core infrastructure. And that’s exactly what moving to RISC-V would do — reinvent Ethereum’s foundation for the next generation of decentralized applications.
Developer Adaptation and Future Outlook
Naturally, adopting RISC-V will require updates to the existing development tools and compilers. Developers would need time to adapt, but thanks to continued support for Solidity and Vyper, the transition would be smooth.
This shift could also spark new innovations within Ethereum’s dev ecosystem. Optimizing smart contracts for RISC-V could lead to new best practices, frameworks, and auditing tools that push the boundaries of what’s currently possible.
Will Ethereum Actually Replace the EVM?
As of now, Buterin’s proposal is under discussion in the Ethereum community. While it’s still in the idea stage, Ethereum has a strong track record of implementing bold innovations. From the Merge to EIP-4844, Ethereum developers have consistently risen to the occasion.
Community input, further research, and real-world testing will ultimately shape the decision. However, if Ethereum adopts RISC-V, it will signal a commitment to long-term growth, performance, and modularity.
Final Thoughts
Vitalik Buterin’s RISC-V proposal isn’t just a tweak — it’s a fundamental rethinking of Ethereum’s smart contract engine. By replacing the aging EVM with RISC-V, Ethereum could achieve groundbreaking improvements in efficiency, especially in zero-knowledge computation.
The move is timely. With L1 usage down and competitors gaining ground, Ethereum needs bold action to retain its lead. If adopted, this change could make Ethereum faster, leaner, and more scalable — without disrupting the tools developers already know and love.
While the transition would require effort, the long-term benefits could be transformative. Ethereum would not just keep pace with next-gen blockchains — it might leap ahead.
