Buterin proposes RISC-V for Ethereum as Foundation refocuses on scaling
Ethereum ongoing push for efficiency
Recent organizational changes at the Ethereum Foundation have enabled Vitalik Buterin to dedicate more time to research and innovation, which explains his recent proposals for transforming the network.
On April 21, Tomasz Stanczak, co-executive director of the Ethereum Foundation, shared a post on X detailing the internal changes after the leadership transition. As of March 17, both Xiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz Stanczak were appointed as co-directors to free Buterin from daily organizational responsibilities.
Loading...
“We aimed, among other things, to free up more of Vitalik’s time for research and exploration, rather than coordination or crisis response. Every time Vitalik shares ideas or direction, it accelerates major long-term breakthroughs. His recent posts on RISC-V and zkVMs have advanced promising areas,” Stanczak wrote.
In April, Buterin proposed several ideas to address privacy and performance limitations in Ethereum. On April 20, he suggested replacing Ethereum’s current smart contract language with the RISC-V instruction set architecture.
According to Cointelegraph, the change could improve the execution layer’s efficiency and help solve long-term scaling issues such as data availability sampling, competitive block production, and zero-knowledge proof capabilities.
Ethereum’s ongoing push for efficiency
Buterin argues that implementing RISC-V could maintain competitive block markets and boost zk-proofs efficiency. His proposal reflects Ethereum’s ongoing battle to improve throughput and stay competitive with newer monolithic blockchains like Solana and Sui—especially amid declining investor confidence in Ethereum.
Meanwhile, Ethereum network fees dropped to the lowest since 2020, averaging $0.16 per transaction in April. According to Brian Quinlivan of Santiment, this drop is due to fewer users sending base-layer transactions, as many now favor smart contracts or Ethereum Layer-2 scaling solutions.
ETH reacted with a price decline from over $2000 to $1415 in early April and is currently trading at around $1630, down 18% over the past 30 days (CoinMarketCap).
Ethereum Price Dynamics for 30 Days. Source: CoinMarketCap
Stanczak added that the Ethereum Foundation will shift much of its research to short-term goals such as Layer 1 scaling, support for Layer 2, and UX improvements—like compatibility updates in Pectra, Fusaka, and Glamsterdam.
He also urged researchers to actively participate in discussions and highlighted how Buterin’s latest posts have helped realign the community around the foundation’s core values.
As we wrote, Ethereum (ETH) is currently navigating a key technical juncture, trading around $1,592.22 as of Thursday. The 4-hour chart highlights a narrowing symmetrical triangle pattern formed over the past month, with price action coiling between descending resistance at $1,656 and rising support at $1,568.
