Vitalik Buterin proposes replacing Ethereum's EVM with RISC-V!
The co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, proposed a radical overhaul of the system that powers the network's smart contracts, suggesting replacing the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) with the open-source RISC-V architecture.
The EVM has been fundamental to Ethereum's success, enabling interoperability with other chains and facilitating developer migration. However, Buterin argues that adopting RISC-V would significantly improve the efficiency of Ethereum's execution layer, addressing scalability bottlenecks and simplifying this layer of the network.
According to Buterin, RISC-V could offer efficiency improvements of over 100 times for certain applications, potentially reducing network costs, a barrier to its adoption. A key advantage of RISC-V is its native compatibility with certain types of encryption, which could simplify the implementation of zero-knowledge cryptography compared to current plans.
This proposal is considered a long-term project, similar to the Beam Chain initiative to renew Ethereum's consensus layer.
Buterin's suggestion comes at a time of reflection for the Ethereum community, with a recent decline in transaction volume and ETH token performance below the overall market.
Additionally, the Ethereum Foundation underwent a leadership transition to address concerns about the lack of a clear roadmap and the potential loss of leadership to competitors.