Written by CryptoDavid

Translated by Vesalis P.

As a crypto writer, I’m always diving into cutting-edge narratives and tech stuff.

Take Vitalik’s tech blogs, for example—he often drops some serious, hardcore ideas out of the blue, and they quickly become hot topics for media outlets to jump on.

But accessing these ideas is one thing; actually understanding them is a whole different story.

A couple of days ago, Ethereum’s founder, Vitalik Buterin, came up with a bold idea: he wants to replace Ethereum’s core component, the EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine), with something called RISC-V.

The English-speaking crypto Twitter has been buzzing with discussions about this, but the Chinese-speaking community doesn’t seem to care much about such a dense, technical topic.

Let’s be real—ETH’s price isn’t exactly soaring these days. The idea that “tech upgrades can’t save the ETH army” has become an unspoken consensus.

Still, driven by curiosity and a faint hope to revive my buried ETH stash, I decided to dig into Vitalik’s RISC-V proposal and break it down in plain language for you—explaining what’s changing and what impact it might have.

Who knows, maybe you’re still interested in ETH-related stuff!

EVM Speaks Dialect, RISC-V Speaks In Standard Way

Let’s start with some basics.

Ethereum is a blockchain platform, kind of like a decentralized “supercomputer.” It can run smart contracts—basically, self-executing programs that power things like DeFi apps or NFT trades.

The key here is that Ethereum’s smart contracts run on something called the EVM, or Ethereum Virtual Machine.

Think of the EVM as a translator. It takes the code that developers write (say, in a language like Solidity) and translates it into instructions (bytecode) that Ethereum can understand and execute.

The concept sounds great, and that’s how it’s been working for years.

But the EVM has a problem: it’s a custom-built system that doesn’t play well with mainstream computer languages, which makes it pretty inefficient—especially when handling complex tasks, where it often hits bottlenecks.

So, what does this have to do with RISC-V?

RISC-V (pronounced “risk-five”) is an open-source computer instruction set, sort of like a “standard language” for computers.

It was developed back in 2010 by the University of California, Berkeley, and now it’s widely used in chips for phones, laptops, sensors, and more. Unlike traditional chips from Intel or ARM (which use proprietary instruction sets), RISC-V is completely open-source. Anyone can use it to design chips—it’s like the “Linux” of the hardware world.

(Source: CSDN）

You might be wondering, what does an instruction set for hardware chips have to do with Ethereum? Why is Vitalik so interested in RISC-V?

In simple terms, RISC-V can fix a lot of the EVM’s issues. As I mentioned, the EVM is like a translator, but it speaks an outdated “local dialect” that doesn’t mesh well with mainstream computer languages. Every time a smart contract runs, the EVM has to work hard to translate it, which drags down efficiency.

RISC-V, on the other hand, is like a modern “universal language.” It’s already used in tons of devices, and the tools and tech around it are super mature. If Ethereum could directly use RISC-V to write smart contracts, it wouldn’t need all that translation hassle, and efficiency could skyrocket.

More specifically, RISC-V would be applied to Ethereum’s “execution layer.”

What’s the execution layer? It’s the core “engine” that runs smart contracts on Ethereum. Vitalik’s idea is to swap out the old EVM engine for a new RISC-V engine, letting smart contracts run directly on RISC-V.

In his April 20, 2025 blog post, he mentioned that this switch could boost Ethereum’s execution efficiency by up to 100 times!

Plus, RISC-V would better support something called zero-knowledge proofs (ZK), which is great for scaling Ethereum (like in solutions such as zk-Rollups).

That said, this idea is still just a “proposal” at this stage—it’s only been out for a few days.

The community has just started discussing it. Some think it’s a great idea, while others worry it’s too risky and might make the system more complicated.

Vitalik himself admitted that this is a long-term plan, likely taking years to actually happen. Right now, Ethereum is focused on other upgrades (like the Pectra upgrade on May 7, which focuses on improving layer-2 and user experience), so the RISC-V thing is still a ways off—no big moves in the short term.

Can Medicine Save Ethereum?

A renowned Chinese writer once said that medical science cannot save the Chinese people because physical salvation is meaningless when the spirit is numb.

Ethereum might be facing a similar situation.

Is it feasible to address physical performance issues from a technical standpoint? If RISC-V is indeed adopted, what impact would it have on Ethereum?

After all, Ethereum is now a $400 billion ecosystem (with ETH's market cap around $189 billion, plus the value of locked assets), so any major overhaul must be approached cautiously.

Let's first discuss the potential benefits of adopting RISC-V. The most significant change would be that Ethereum becomes faster. Currently, Ethereum can get particularly congested during peak times, like during past NFT booms, when everyone was scrambling to buy avatars, leading to transaction delays and soaring gas fees—confirming its status as a chain for the affluent.

In the long run, adopting RISC-V could make Ethereum more competitive. Solana and other L1s are characterized by their speed and have already attracted many users.

If Ethereum could adopt RISC-V and align with mainstream technology, it would be easier for developers to create new applications (DApps), attracting more users to Ethereum.

From Vitalik's perspective, his goal might be to ensure Ethereum not only works now but continues to lead for decades to come.

However, adopting RISC-V isn't without problems, and the risks are significant.

Some old smart contracts may not work with RISC-V, requiring compatibility solutions. There's also concern that while RISC-V is fast, it might not fully meet Ethereum's needs, potentially complicating the system and affecting current scaling solutions (like Rollups).

Another issue is that developers would need to learn new skills. Current developers are accustomed to using the EVM for smart contract development, and switching to RISC-V would require learning new tools and methods. Some might find this cumbersome and be reluctant to change.

The community is divided on this proposal. Supporters see it as a crucial step towards Ethereum's future, making it faster and more cost-effective. Opponents view it as too risky, potentially complicating the system, and suggest focusing on optimizing the current EVM instead.

If you're an ETH holder and inadvertently an "ETH guardian," you'd naturally hope that Vitalik's ideas could improve Ethereum and boost ETH.

But honestly, whether technical upgrades can save ETH's price is uncertain.

After all, the market sometimes ignores technology and focuses on sentiment.

Nevertheless, the RISC-V idea is intriguing, indicating that Ethereum is still striving to advance. If you're interested in ETH, it's worth keeping an eye on this development, as it might bring pleasant surprises in the future.