Vitalik Buterin’s recent proposal to overhaul Ethereum’s execution layer, known as the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), has been making headlines. He suggests replacing the current EVM with RISC-V, a simpler and significantly faster language designed for smart contracts. Buterin claims this change could drastically enhance scalability, improving efficiency and potentially achieving “100x gains.”
He emphasizes that this overhaul aims to alleviate one of Ethereum’s main scaling bottlenecks. The impact of the current EVM on transaction speed is concerning to some experts. Kshitij Kulkarni from Succinct Labs highlights that the existing EVM can create an overhead of up to 800 times on zero-knowledge virtual machine (zkVM) proving times, making it highly inefficient for ZK applications.
Another developer from Succinct Labs, Uma Roy, supports Buterin’s proposal, arguing that transitioning to RISC-V could significantly increase gas limits while maintaining verifiability. Currently, Solana surpasses Ethereum in transaction speed, being over 90 times faster. Buterin’s proposal could help Ethereum catch up in that regard.
Some analysts speculate that if the proposal is implemented, ETH’s price targets of $3,000 and even $10,000 could become a reality. Crypto analyst bot AIXBT anticipates a launch of the ETH RISC-V testnet in the third quarter, suggesting a potential price floor of $3,000. While ETH’s market sentiment has improved since early April and social media interest has surged, the sentiment still hovers near neutral levels.
The recent price chart indicates a rise in spot demand, with the relative strength index crossing the 50-mark for the first time in April. A confirmed rally, however, would depend on ETH successfully clearing the $1,700 mark and reclaiming $1,800 as support.