Vitalik Buterin Proposes RISC-V Upgrade to Replace EVM

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin Vitalik Buterin  
Vitalik Buterin is a well-known tech geek, influencer, and computer programmer. To promote the blockchain, he started Bitcoin Magazine and provided blockchain information for cryptocurrency investors. In 2015, he co-founded Ethereum, a blockchain platform that contributed to decentralized finance.
 
Quick Facts
  Full name Vitaly Dmitrievich Buterin Birth 31-01-1994, Kolomna, Russia Education University of Waterloo Wife/Partner To be updated / Not Married Famous for Ethereum, ETH, Blockchain advocate/promoter  Net Worth $1B (refer for realtime)  
Buterin recognized the need for decentralized finance and used smart contracts to publish the Ethereum whitepaper.  His contributions paved the way for Ethereum’s transition to Proof-of-Stake, which proved to be scalable and effective. Furthermore, he introduced Ether (ETH), the blockchain platform’s native coin.
A Timeline of Vitalik’s Career Co-founded Bitcoin Magazine (2011) – Established one of the first crypto publications, writing extensively on Bitcoin and blockchain.
Authored Ethereum Whitepaper (2013) – Proposed a blockchain with smart contract functionality for decentralized applications (dApps).
Co-founded Ethereum (2015) – Launched Ethereum after a successful $18M ICO, revolutionizing the blockchain ecosystem.
Developed Ethereum Virtual Machine (2015–2016) – Created the EVM, enabling developers to build and deploy smart contracts.
Worked on Ethereum Scalability (2017–2021) – Contributed to Layer 2 solutions like Rollups, Plasma, and Sharding.
Led Ethereum’s Transition to Proof-of-Stake (2018–2022) – Helped develop and implement Ethereum 2.0, merging the Beacon Chain in 2022.
Blockchain Research & Cryptography (2016–Present) – Focused on zk-SNARKs, privacy tech, and decentralized governance models.
Philanthropy & Crypto Advocacy (2017–Present) – Donated millions in crypto for pandemic relief, AI research, and financial inclusion.  
Key Achievements of Ethereum’s Co-founder
  Year  Achievements Details 2014 Thiel Fellowship Awarded a $100,000 grant by Peter Thiel to work on Ethereum. 2018 Fortune 30 Under 30 Recognized as one of the most influential young leaders in technology. 2018 World Technology Award in IT Software Honored for contributions to blockchain and Ethereum’s development. 2021 Time 100 Most Influential People Recognized for his impact on the global crypto and blockchain ecosystem. 2022 Ethereum’s Transition to Proof-of-Stake Successfully led Ethereum’s transition from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake.  
Other Useful links to connect with Vitalik Buterin
  Platform Link X (formerly Twitter) https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin GitHub https://github.com/vbuterin Ethereum Official Website https://ethereum.org Vitalik’s Blog https://vitalik.ca  
  EntrepreneurCrypto and Blockchain Expert has proposed a major overhaul to the network’s core execution system: replacing the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) with RISC-V, an open-source instruction set architecture.

The idea, shared on the Ethereum Magicians forum, could bring significant improvements to scalability, performance, and simplicity – especially for zero-knowledge (ZK) applications.

This shift would mark one of the most fundamental changes in Ethereum’s development history and could redefine how smart contracts are executed across the network.

Why Buterin Says the EVM No Longer Fits

The EVM has served as the foundation for smart contract execution since Ethereum launched. But over time, limitations have become more apparent—particularly when it comes to supporting complex applications and efficiently handling zero-knowledge proofs.

According to Buterin, RISC-V could solve many of these issues. He argues that a move toward this architecture is the only realistic way to simplify and streamline Ethereum’s execution layer while preparing it for next-generation use cases.

What RISC-V Can Do Better

RISC-V is already widely used across the hardware and software industries. As an open-source standard, it offers a lean and flexible foundation that could be more efficient than Ethereum’s current virtual machine.

Buterin estimates that Ethereum could see up to 100x improvements in execution performance, especially for ZK-EVMs – systems that replicate EVM logic within zero-knowledge environments. These setups currently require substantial computational resources just to verify transactions, so improved efficiency would have an immediate impact.

Three Paths to RISC-V Integration

Buterin outlined three potential routes for implementation:

Native support for both EVM and RISC-V contracts.
Running EVM contracts through a RISC-V-based interpreter.
Making interpreters a formal part of Ethereum’s protocol.

Each option presents its own set of trade-offs, but the core idea is to make Ethereum more modular and adaptable as new technologies emerge. If adopted, this would be one of the most significant architectural changes in Ethereum’s roadmap to date.

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ETH Price Analysis

 The ETH price in 2025 has been turbulent. After starting the year at $3,337.61, Ethereum faced major drawdowns in February (-32.2%) and March (-18.4%).

In April, ETH dropped to a low of $1,474.17 on April 9 but has since rebounded to trade between $1,690.67 and $1,470.53. Over the past week, ETH has climbed 0.8%, with a 3% increase in the last 24 hours, indicating signs of recovery. Ethereum previously saw a rally in late 2024, surging over 66.75% between November and December and peaking at $4,106.71 on December 16, supported by favorable political shifts in the U.S.

With technical shifts on the table and market sentiment still volatile, Ethereum’s next chapter will be one to watch.