Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
-
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has unveiled a detailed case for two sweeping execution layer changes.
-
The plan seeks to switch to a binary state tree and eventually replace the EVM.
Vitalik Buterin’s New Plan Seeks to Replace the EVM
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin unveiled a detailed breakdown of two major execution layer changes he sees as critical to the network's future.
In an X post on Sunday, Buterin added that the new plan will double down on a binary state tree overhaul and a longer-term push to move beyond the EVM.
Now, execution layer changes. I've already talked about account abstraction, multidimensional gas, BALs, and ZK-EVMs.
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) March 1, 2026
I've also talked here about a short-term EVM upgrade that I think will be super-valuable: a vectorized math precompile (basically, do 32-bit or potentially…
According to Buterin, the two changes are deep architectural shifts that many developers shy away from, but that incrementalism will not resolve Ethereum's core proving inefficiencies.
He pointed out that the state tree and VM together represent more than 80% of the proving bottleneck, making them basically mandatory for client-side proving use cases.
"They are 'deep' changes that many shrink away from, thinking that it is more 'pragmatic' to be incrementalist," Buterin added.
The state tree change by Buterin focuses on EIP-7864, which would replace Ethereum's current hexary Keccak Merkle Patricia Tree with a binary tree using a more efficient hash function.
The co-founder credited developer Guillaume Ballet and others for their work on the proposal, which has been in draft stages since January 2025.
This design would produce Merkle branches four times shorter than today's structure, cutting data bandwidth for light client tools like Helios.
Furthermore, replacing the hash function with either Blake3 or a Poseidon variant could deliver an additional 3x to 100x improvement in proving efficiency. However, Buterin stated that Poseidon still requires more security review.
The second change involves the Virtual Machine (VM). Buterin reiterated his April 2025 proposal to eventually replace the EVM with RISC-V, the open-source instruction set architecture that most ZK provers already use internally.
Buterin proposed a three-stage deployment: first, using RISC-V only for precompiles, then allowing users to deploy RISC-V contracts, and finally retiring the EVM entirely by converting it into a smart contract written in the new VM.
He argued that Ethereum's whole point is its generality, and if the EVM is not good enough to actually meet the needs of that generality, then it is time to tackle the problem head-on and make a better VM.
His latest proposal comes as Buterin has continuously reiterated his support for deep structural changes to Ethereum's base layer.
Last week, Buterin noted that Ethereum has already made jet engine changes in-flight once (the merge) and can handle roughly four more: the state tree, lean consensus, ZK-EVM verification, and a VM change.
Ethereum's Glamsterdam upgrade is set to roll out in the first half of 2026 and aims to address MEV fairness on the network. The Hegota upgrade will follow later in the year.
