Ethereum RISC-V Proposal 2025 Aims to Transform the Execution Layer and Boost Zero-Knowledge Performance
Ethereum RISC-V Proposal 2025 marks a bold turning point in Ethereum’s roadmap as co-founder Vitalik Buterin proposes replacing the current Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) contract language with the RISC-V instruction set architecture. Shared on April 20, Buterin’s proposal comes in response to several critical bottlenecks Ethereum faces in maintaining scalability, competitiveness, and long-term sustainability.
Central to the suggestion is Ethereum’s need to strengthen data availability sampling, support good block production rivalry, and significantly advance zero-knowledge proof generation—an area where Ethereum has to shine to rival high-performance blockchain systems like Solana and Sui.
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Why RISC-V?
The Ethereum RISC-V Proposal 2025 claims that adding RISC-V, a well-known open-source instruction set used extensively in hardware design, would transform Ethereum’s execution layer. RISC-V’s simplicity and flexibility are perfect for developing Ethereum’s zero-knowledge cryptographic features, a mainstay for reaching next scalability.
Buterin claims “the beam chain effort holds great promise for simplifying Ethereum’s consensus layer—but for the execution layer to achieve similar benefits, a radical shift like this may be the only viable path.”
Though enormous, such a move might fit Ethereum with current computing standards and give developers a more strong and flexible foundation to create apps with more privacy, security, and efficiency.
Ethereum’s Ecosystem Under Pressure
The Ethereum RISC-V Proposal 2025 comes at a time when Ethereum’s base layer is under significant strain. Collected from layer-2 networks, the platform’s blob fee income has fallen to only 3.18 ETH (about $5,000) in the last week of March 2025. Average network fees, on the other hand, fell to a five-year low of $0.16 per transaction.
Brian Quinlivan of Santiment ascribed this fee drop to declining user activity on Ethereum’s mainnet as Layer-2 solution acceptance increases. Though L2s lower transaction costs, they are also syphoning income away from Ethereum’s basic infrastructure, hence questioning long-term viability.
The Critics Speak: Is ETH Still a Good Investment?
Some in the crypto world, including venture capitalist Nic Carter of Castle Island Ventures, have expressed concern about Ethereum’s future. Carter denounces what he terms “greedy Eth L2s” that take value from the base chain while providing little return. He also criticises Ethereum’s relaxed approach to too much token generation, saying the network is “buried in an avalanche of its own tokens.”
His worry reflects that of Quinn Thompson, founder of Lekker Capital, who harshly declared Ethereum is “totally dead” as an investment because of decreasing transaction volume, flat user growth, and dropping network revenues.
Carter actually cautioned that Ethereum’s fee income has fallen 99% over six months as far back as September 2024, underlining the need of Buterin’s structural changes.
What’s Next?
Particularly in the quest of more efficient zero-knowledge proofs and scalable execution, the Ethereum RISC-V Proposal 2025 suggests a possible advance. Should this upgrade be carried out, it will distinguish Ethereum not only as a smart contract platform but also as a blockchain able to evolve in step with contemporary computing paradigms.
Still, the change will call for developer agreement, long-term strategy, and maybe most importantly—trust from Ethereum’s worldwide community of users, builders, and investors.
The discussion RISC-V generates will determine the following chapter of blockchain innovation whether or not it becomes Ethereum’s new backbone.
