Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed a major change to the network’s execution layer: replacing the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) bytecode with the RISC-V instruction set. This shift would not affect fundamental smart contract functions like accounts or storage, but would change how contract code is compiled and run. Under the proposal, developers would compile languages like Solidity directly to RISC-V rather than EVM bytecode. System operations like SLOAD or CALL would be handled as syscalls instead of opcodes.

One of the main drivers behind this proposal is the network’s decreasing base layer activity and revenue. In the week of March 30, Ethereum collected just 3.18 ETH in blob fees—around $5,000.

Transaction fees have also dropped sharply, reaching $0.16 on average in April 2025, the lowest since 2020. This drop is largely due to a growing shift in activity to layer-2 networks and contract calls rather than base-layer transactions. According to analytics from Token Terminal and Santiment, Ethereum’s fee revenue has significantly declined in early 2025, prompting concerns about the network’s long-term sustainability and Ether’s value.

Buterin noted that most zero-knowledge (ZK) provers already simulate the EVM by translating it into RISC-V. Switching to RISC-V natively could improve efficiency up to 100x and simplify proof generation. To maintain support for existing contracts, Ethereum would keep old EVM contracts running alongside new RISC-V-based ones. This might involve using a RISC-V interpreter to execute old bytecode or running two systems in parallel within the protocol. Over time, this could also allow Ethereum to support other virtual machines, such as Move.

This proposal comes ahead of Ethereum’s scheduled “Pectra” upgrade on May 7, which aims to improve scalability, user experience, and validator limits. Buterin believes that for the execution layer to match the improvements seen in the consensus layer, a more fundamental change is required.

There are growing concerns that Ethereum’s shrinking base-layer fees could weaken Ether’s value. Analysts warn that if usage continues shifting away from the mainnet, Ether’s price could fall further, possibly to $1,100. The RISC-V proposal is presented as a bold but necessary path to maintain Ethereum’s performance and relevance in a competitive blockchain environment.

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