Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed a significant overhaul of the network’s execution layer that could dramatically improve its efficiency. In a post published Sunday on the Ethereum Magicians forum, Buterin suggested replacing the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) with RISC-V, an open-source Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) architecture.

The proposed shift to RISC-V could double the efficiency of Ethereum's execution layer, according to Buterin. He emphasized that this change could simplify Ethereum’s base layer significantly while removing key performance bottlenecks.

“RISC-V aims to greatly improve the efficiency of the Ethereum execution layer, resolving one of the primary scaling bottlenecks,” Buterin wrote. “It can also greatly improve the execution layer's simplicity — in fact, it is perhaps the only way to do so.”

Balancing Innovation With Developer Continuity

To minimize disruption for developers, Buterin outlined multiple strategies that would allow current smart contracts to remain compatible. These include enabling support for both EVM and RISC-V, implementing an EVM interpreter written in RISC-V, or formalizing the concept of a “virtual machine interpreter” that runs on RISC-V.

However, the proposal has sparked debate within the Ethereum development community. Critics argue that the shift may undermine Ethereum’s Layer 2-centric scalability roadmap. Adam Cochran, partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, expressed concern that optimizing Layer 1 (L1) execution might reduce the value proposition of Layer 2 (L2) solutions.

“This would be great for L1 execution,” Cochran wrote, “but that lowers the value add of L2s, competing against ourselves, and doesn't add much value to that roadmap in exchange for a huge technical lift.”

Exploratory or Transformational?

Tomasz Stańczak, co-executive director at the Ethereum Foundation (EF), acknowledged the exploratory nature of Buterin’s proposal. He noted that recent internal changes at the EF have given Buterin more time to focus on long-term research and transformative ideas.

“These proposals aim to spark discussion and accelerate progress in critical areas,” Stańczak explained, adding that “community review may refine them significantly or even reject them.” He reminded stakeholders that Ethereum researchers often publish early-stage concepts to encourage public dialogue.

Despite the provocative nature of Buterin’s RISC-V proposal, the EF remains focused on more immediate improvements. Upcoming upgrades — including Pectra, Fusaka, and Glamsterdam — will target L1 and L2 scalability, as well as user experience enhancements.

Pectra Upgrade Set for May

The Pectra upgrade, scheduled for deployment on May 7, will introduce major features to Ethereum’s mainnet. These include wallet recovery tools, transaction batching, blobspace expansion for data availability, and an increase in the validator staking limit to 2,048 ETH.

Buterin’s RISC-V proposal arrives at a pivotal moment for Ethereum. As rival blockchains like Solana and Ethereum L2s absorb more user and developer activity, Ethereum L1 revenue has experienced a sharp decline over the past year. In that context, radical changes like the shift to RISC-V could reshape Ethereum's competitive positioning — if adopted.