{"id":91317,"date":"2025-11-24T10:03:51","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T07:03:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=91317"},"modified":"2025-11-24T10:05:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T07:05:27","slug":"offchain-labs-criticizes-buterins-proposal-to-transition-evm-to-risc-v","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/offchain-labs-criticizes-buterins-proposal-to-transition-evm-to-risc-v\/","title":{"rendered":"Offchain Labs Criticizes Buterin&#8217;s Proposal to Transition EVM to RISC-V"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The primary developer of the <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-a-layer%e2%80%912-solution-in-blockchain\">L2<\/a> network <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-arbitrum\">Arbitrum<\/a>, Offchain Labs, has <a href=\"https:\/\/ethresear.ch\/t\/why-risc-v-is-not-a-good-choice-for-an-l1-delivery-isa-and-why-wasm-is-a-better-one\/23491\">introduced<\/a> its own approach to modernizing the Ethereum Virtual Machine (<a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-the-ethereum-virtual-machine-evm\">EVM<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>The research team proposed transitioning Ethereum to <a href=\"https:\/\/ru.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/WebAssembly\">WASM<\/a> instead of the RISC-V architecture suggested by Vitalik Buterin. In their view, RISC-V is well-suited for generating <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-a-zero-knowledge-proof\">zero-knowledge proofs<\/a>, but is not the optimal choice for executing and storing the platform&#8217;s smart contracts.<\/p>\n<p>Previously, Buterin <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/vitalik-buterin-proposes-shifting-ethereums-architecture-to-risc-v\">stated<\/a> that RISC-V would solve several first-layer blockchain scaling issues and reduce ZK costs by 100 times.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>&#8220;We support these goals but question Vitalik&#8217;s assumption that a single instruction set architecture can optimally serve both zero-knowledge proofs and smart contract execution,&#8221; wrote Mario Alvarez, Matteo Campanelli, Tsachi Zidenberg, and Daniel Lumi.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The developers highlighted several fundamental advantages of the WebAssembly architecture:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Modular design<\/strong> \u2014 allows for the modernization and optimization of executable code while maintaining full backward compatibility with existing contracts;<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-are-cross-chain-bridges\"><strong>Cross-chain<\/strong><\/a><strong> efficiency<\/strong> \u2014 operates on standard server hardware, unlike RISC-V, which requires emulation on most Ethereum nodes;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Strict validation<\/strong> \u2014 built-in type safety prevents a whole class of vulnerabilities at the execution level;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Production readiness<\/strong> \u2014 the tool ecosystem has been tested in billions of real-world execution environments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>&#8220;WASM can become a universal protocol for smart contracts \u2014 an ideal intermediate standard that links a variety of programming languages with different execution and verification systems,&#8221; the team emphasized.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Arguments Against<\/h2>\n<p>The researchers&#8217; key argument is the distinction between <span data-descr=\"format for deploying and executing contracts on the blockchain\" class=\"old_tooltip\">&#8220;executable&#8221; (dISA)<\/span> and <span data-descr=\"architecture for generating ZK-proofs in virtual machines\" class=\"old_tooltip\">&#8220;proving ISA&#8221; (pISA)<\/span>. Experts believe that unifying these architectures is not necessary, as they address different tasks.<\/p>\n<p>Offchain Labs is developing a model oriented towards this approach. Arbitrum blocks with Stylus smart contracts based on WASM undergo ZK verification through a two-step process:<\/p>\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Compilation of WASM into RISC-V.<\/li>\n<li>Generation of RISC-V execution proofs.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>&#8220;We are already capable of verifying real blockchain blocks through ZK proofs, where WASM is used as the executable architecture, and a RISC-V-based ZK-VM functions as the computational backend,&#8221; the experts explained.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The team also pointed to the rapidly changing landscape of proof technologies, questioning whether RISC-V is the final point in the evolution of ZK-VM. As an example, they cited the recent transition from 32- to 64-bit RISC-V implementations, demonstrating that standards continue to evolve.<\/p>\n<p>According to the researchers, fixing the architecture at L1 could limit Ethereum&#8217;s flexibility in the future, preventing adaptation to more advanced proof technologies that will inevitably emerge.<\/p>\n<p>WASM-based ZK-VMs like Ligetron from Ligero already demonstrate functional advantages potentially unattainable for hardware-oriented models.<\/p>\n<p>The cost of zero-knowledge proofs has decreased to approximately $0.025 per block and continues to fall.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>&#8220;Even if multiple ZK proofs per block are required, these costs will remain insignificant compared to gas fees and <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/the-invisible-tax-on-ethereum-what-mev-is-and-how-to-counter-it\"><em>MEV<\/em><\/a><em> revenues received by the validator,&#8221; the experts clarified.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In April, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson positively <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/charles-hoskinson-foresees-ethereums-demise-in-10-15-years\">assessed<\/a> Buterin&#8217;s proposal to replace EVM with the RISC-V architecture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The primary developer of the L2 network Arbitrum, Offchain Labs, has introduced its own approach to modernizing the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"Offchain Labs proposes WASM over RISC-V for Ethereum's EVM modernization.","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[46,1138,200],"class_list":["post-91317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-ethereum","tag-opinions","tag-vitalik-buterin"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"146","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"Offchain Labs proposes WASM over RISC-V for Ethereum's EVM modernization.","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91317"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91318,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91317\/revisions\/91318"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}