jakiro
Author: Haotian
A friend asked me what I think @VitalikButerin proposed an aggressive solution to replace Ethereum virtual machine EVM bytecode with an open source RISC-V instruction set architecture?Ethereum is essentially planning a deep technological change led by ZK technology.Come on, let me sort out the strategic logic behind it:
1) First, Vitalik’s idea of replacing EVM with RISC-V is not new.As early as when he proposed the Rollup-Centric expansion strategy, he had already suggested a similar idea: to enable layer2 that meets the criteria to become the execution layer of the main network, and EVM was downgraded from the protocol layer to the “in-programming” Rollup execution client function layer, becoming one of many AltVMs.
The key to implementing this transformation is that RISC-V, as a more underlying and more general instruction set architecture, can provide a unified “hardware” foundation for zkVM, so that various execution environments can run efficiently under the same framework.This architectural change must be based on Ethereum’s implementation of the underlying SNARKs deployment, because only when ZK technology can be applied to state verification on a large scale can this modular execution layer architecture achieve efficiency improvements while ensuring security.
2) To be honest, this strategic adjustment of Ethereum seems to have the courage to “break down and rebuild”, but in a deep analysis, the substitutability of the execution layer is actually a must for old-fashioned strong consensus public chains like Ethereum.Faced with the technical impact of new public chains such as Solana and Sui with the ultimate TPS and the market diversion of a large number of EVM-compatible chains, Ethereum chooses to take the initiative instead of being passively beaten.
Because, in comparison of pure technical indicators, Ethereum’s TPS is indeed difficult to compete with new public chains such as Solana and Sui, but in the triad difficulties, Ethereum has always adhered to the two core values of security and decentralization, while maintaining an unparalleled ecological prosperity and developer group.
If Ethereum tries to use RISC-V, an open source instruction set architecture, to improve the efficiency of the execution layer, especially in terms of ZK proof, it is expected to bring a 50-100-fold performance leap. This strategy of iterating the execution layer without sacrificing its foundation not only retains the core advantages of Ethereum, but also faces the solution to its main shortcomings, why not do it?
3) However, while being excited and cheering for the new proposal, you must understand that EVM’s transformation to RISC-V is by no means an overnight project.From the perspective of the technology implementation path, this change is likely to be fully promoted until the ZK-SNARKs technology is deployed on a large scale.
Compared with major upgrades at the core level of Ethereum in the past few years (such as consensus layer upgrades from PoW to PoS), the entire process ideally requires rigorous design, extensive testing and strong community support, and is estimated to require at least 2-3 years of cycles.
However, Vitalik highlighted backward compatibility in the proposal, and perhaps existing EVM contracts will continue to exist through the RISC-V interpreter run or parallel support mechanism, which is crucial to mitigating the transition costs for developers and users.This gradual change strategy is also a stable strategic iteration style that Ethereum must have as a secure decentralized husband chain.
In my opinion, Vitalik’s proposal to replace EVM with RISC-V is not only a simple technical architecture adjustment, but also an innovative strategy for Ethereum to face high-performance public chain competition.This proposal is closely related to the upgrades such as Verge and Purge in the Ethereum roadmap. It is essentially based on the underlying SNARKs. The goal is to establish a more efficient and flexible execution environment to support diversified application scenarios in the future.
Previously, @drakefjustin revealed that the Ethereum Foundation will invest tens of millions of dollars in the zkVMs project. There is no doubt that zkVM is indeed one of the core narratives of Ethereum’s future. What Ethereum is trying to build is not just a more efficient execution layer, but a modular architecture that can be compatible with multiple virtual machines.This discussion on RISC-V replacement EVM may be just the beginning.
