TLDR:
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Vitalik Buterin wants to replace Ethereum’s EVM with RISC-V for major speed and simplicity improvements.
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The proposed shift could deliver a 100x performance boost and simplify Ethereum’s core.
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Buterin aims to make Ethereum nearly “as simple as Bitcoin” in five years.
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The transition may require developer retraining and risks breaking backward compatibility.
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The community remains divided, but the roadmap reflects long-term infrastructure goals.
Ethereum Founder Targets Simplicity and Speed
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed a sweeping overhaul of the network’s core architecture, suggesting the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) be replaced with RISC-V, an open-source instruction set. His plan aims to make Ethereum both significantly faster and structurally simpler, potentially on par with Bitcoin’s minimalistic protocol design.
In a blog post published May 3, Buterin described the current EVM as unnecessarily complex and difficult to optimize. By transitioning to RISC-V, he hopes to streamline the execution layer and improve zero-knowledge proof performance.
100x Performance Gains Without Breaking Smart Contracts
The proposed RISC-V upgrade would allow smart contracts to run directly on Ethereum’s execution layer, removing the extra translation steps required by the EVM. This could yield up to a 100x improvement in performance while maintaining backward compatibility for existing contracts.
Buterin emphasized that simplicity is not just aesthetic but foundational for Ethereum’s role as a “credibly neutral and globally trusted base layer.”
Community Skepticism and Implementation Challenges
Despite the promise of efficiency, the plan faces significant obstacles. Developers may need to retrain for a new architecture, and critics argue the tooling around RISC-V is still immature. Analysts also note that governance coordination across Ethereum’s fragmented ecosystem could make implementation slow and difficult.
Dominick John of Kronos Research warned that the change might “break backward compatibility” and introduce long-term technical risk.
Still, others view Buterin’s vision as a step forward for Ethereum’s evolution. “Price isn’t the scoreboard for technological maturity,” said Thad Pinakiewicz of Galaxy, noting that Ethereum continues to shape the future of decentralized infrastructure.
