Site iconSite icon ForkLog

Buterin proposes a binary state tree and a long-term replacement for the EVM in Ethereum

ForkLog
Buterin proposes a binary state tree and a long-term replacement for the EVM in Ethereum

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin set out a plan for two key changes to the network execution layer: a shift to a binary state tree and the long-term replacement of the EVM.

“These are ‘deep’ changes that many forgo, considering the incremental approach more ‘pragmatic’,” he noted.

According to the programmer, the state tree and the virtual machine account for over 80% of the network’s technical constraints. This makes them “practically mandatory” for client scenarios that use proofs.

According to the programmer, the state tree and the virtual machine account for over 80% of the network’s technical constraints. This makes them “practically mandatory” for client scenarios that use proofs.

A new state tree

The state-tree change builds on EIP-7864. It entails moving from the current hexadecimal Merkle–Patricia tree to a binary one with a more efficient hash function.

A binary structure would shorten Merkle branches fourfold, reducing the data footprint for light clients such as Helios. Swapping the hash function for BLAKE3 or a variant of Poseidon would further improve proof efficiency by three to 100 times. Buterin acknowledged that Poseidon requires additional security auditing.

The co-founder’s proposal is an evolution of earlier plans to deploy Verkle trees. Interest in binary structures was revived in mid‑2024 amid concerns that current cryptographic methods could prove vulnerable to quantum computers.

A new virtual machine

Buterin again raised the question of replacing the EVM with RISC‑V—an open instruction-set architecture that most ZK provers already use. He outlined a three‑stage plan:

  1. Introduce RISC‑V solely for precompiled contracts.
  2. Allow users to deploy contracts on the new architecture.
  3. Fully deprecate the old EVM, turning it into a smart contract running atop the new virtual machine.

“The point of Ethereum is its universality. If the EVM is not good enough to achieve that, we should address the problem directly and build a better virtual machine,” the programmer wrote.

The initiative has met resistance. In November 2025, researchers at Offchain Labs (the developers of Arbitrum) argued that WebAssembly (WASM) is a better fit for long‑term development.

Their key point: RISC‑V excels at ZK proofs, but an “interface architecture” and an “architecture for proofs” do not have to coincide.

AI

Buterin also suggested that delivering on the Ethereum roadmap could accelerate thanks to vibe‑coding.

In his words, AI “significantly accelerates writing code”. The community should be open to the possibility that the project’s plans will be delivered “much faster and with a higher level of security than expected”.

He was commenting on the results of an experiment in which a developer built a reference implementation of the roadmap in just a few weeks.

However, Buterin pointed to “large caveats”: the high speed of coding “almost guarantees the presence of critical bugs”, and in some cases the AI may have produced only “stubs” instead of working versions.

“But half a year ago even such results were unattainable, so for now the direction of the trend matters more,” he added.

In his view, the optimal approach is to use neural networks to strengthen security, not only to speed things up. Possible measures include generating additional test scenarios, applying formal verification and creating alternative implementations of the same components.

In February, Buterin described a possible process for merging Ethereum with artificial intelligence.

Exit mobile version