The Good Tech Companies - Why Is Ethereum Considering RISC-V, and What Can Cartesi Teach Us About This Shift?

Episode Date: April 23, 2025

This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/why-is-ethereum-considering-risc-v-and-what-can-cartesi-teach-us-about-this-shift. Vitalik Buterin proposes RISC-V for Ethereum; Cartesi explains why this could change blockchain forever. Check more stories related to web3 at: https://hackernoon.com/c/web3. You can also check exclusive content about #web3, #cartesi, #risc-v, #ethereum, #cryptocurrency, #blockchain, #cartesi-news, #good-company, and more. This story was written by: @ishanpandey. Learn more about this writer by checking @ishanpandey's about page, and for more stories, please visit hackernoon.com. Vitalik Buterin proposes RISC-V for Ethereum; Cartesi explains why this could change blockchain forever.

This audio is presented by Hacker Noon, where anyone can learn anything about any technology. Why is Ethereum considering RISCV, and what can Cartesie teach us about this shift, by Eshan Pandey? What happens when the foundational architecture of Ethereum's virtual machine gets reconsidered? Recently, Vitalik Buterin suggested moving Ethereum's execution environment toward RISCV, an open standard instruction set architecture. But what would this mean for the broader blockchain ecosystem, and why has Cartesie, a blockchain infrastructure project, been advocating for this shift since 2018? Cartesie co-founders Felipe Argento and Eric de Mora have long supported the adoption of RISC-V,

not as a speculative bet but as a calculated decision rooted in the evolution of mainstream software development. The rationale behind Cartessi's RISCV integration since 2018 Eric de Mora, co-founder of Cartessi, explains greater than, it's all about not reinventing the wheel and standing on the shoulders of greater than giants. When we started Cartessi in 2018, we asked ourselves how blockchain greater than could break into mainstream development. The answer was clear, we had to greater than embrace decades of software innovation, not ignore it. Cartesie saw limitations in the Ethereum Virtual Machine, EVM, a domain-specific virtual machine requiring developers to solve problems that have already been addressed in traditional computing environments.

The EVM forces developers to reinvent the wheel for basic operations, DeMora said. Greater than, that's a profound setback in expressive power for Web3 developers. RISC-V allows Cartesi to run Linux inside smart contracts. This unlocks access to mature software libraries, enhances security, and connects decentralized apps, DApps, to the broader technology ecosystem. RISC-V is open, extensible, and free from the legacy constraints of older ISAs. That's why we chose it, Damora noted. Understanding RISC-V. A technical PRI-MER-RISCV reduced instruction set computing. 5.

Is an open standard instruction set architecture, ESA, based on established reduced instruction set principles. Unlike proprietary ISAs such as x86, Intel, AMD, or ARM, RISCV is freely available for anyone to use, modify, and implement. This open model has led to rapid adoption across academia, research, and industry. At its core, RISC-V is designed around a small, modular base instruction set with optional standard extensions for additional capabilities, including integer multiplication, division, atomic operations, floating-point arithmetic, and more. This modularity makes RISC-V highly adaptable, allowing implementers to optimize processors

for specific workloads, ranging from low-power embedded systems to high-performance computing. In the blockchain context, this modular and open nature translates into several advantages. Determinism. Blockchain environments require deterministic execution. RISCV's clean and minimalistic design simplifies verification and deterministic computation. Formal verification. RISCV has robust support for formal methods, allowing developers to mathematically prove the correctness of critical code paths, a vital aspect in trustless systems like blockchains.

Tooling ecosystem. With extensive support from GCC, LLVM, and QEMU, RISC-V developers can leverage powerful, existing tools for compiling, simulating, and debugging applications. Furthermore, RISC-V's compatibility with running a full Linux operating system enable smart contracts and decentralized applications to utilize system-level resources traditionally unavailable in constrained blockchain environments. This opens the door to integrating advanced technologies such as AI inference, high-resolution data analysis, and cryptographic proofs directly within blockchain infrastructure. Could RISC-V become the blockchain industry's common ground? Virtual machines have served as the computational backbone of blockchain. Until now,

each network, Ethereum, Solana, Polkadot has developed its own virtual machine. This fragmentation increases developer friction and limits cross-chain interoperability. Demora draws parallels with the Internet's development greater than in the evolution of digital infrastructure. The narrow waste law shows that greater than one minimal, widely adopted standard drives growth. For the Internet, it was greater than IP. For blockchain, it could be risk V.

He suggests that RISC-V, by virtue of its open nature and existing tooling, could become the unifying architecture for blockchain computation. As more blockchains converge on RISCV, the benefits will compound. Competing architectures will struggle to justify themselves against an open standard with decades of support. Lessons C-A-R-T-E-S-I has learned that could help E-T-H-E-R-E-U-M through their work with RISCVV, Cartesie has gathered insights applicable to Ethereum and others considering the shift.

1. Mature ecosystem. You don't need to start from scratch, Demora said. RISC-V lets you leverage compilers, debuggers, and even Linux itself. Quote.2. Customization with compatibility. You can add blockchain-specific features while staying compliant with the standard. Quote.2. Customization with compatibility. You can add blockchain-specific features while staying compliant with the standard.

Quote.3. Deterministic OS execution. We've shown that Linux can run deterministically in a blockchain environment. This enables complex apps like AI or simulations to run on-chain. Quote. He emphasized, RISC-V isn't just a better technical choice. It's strategic, it brings blockchain development closer to traditional computing, accelerating innovation. My opinion and final T HOTS Vitalik Buterin's endorsement of RISC-V highlights a critical turning point for Ethereum and blockchain architecture at large. While still a proposal, this shift reflects a broader industry realization. The future of decentralized applications depends on bridging the gap between Web3 and traditional software development.

Cartesi's early move to RISCV demonstrates foresight and offers a tested model for others to follow. The technical advantages of RISCV, modularity, determinism, and extensive tooling, present a compelling case for industry-wide adoption. If Ethereum moves in this direction, it could standardize blockchain infrastructure much like TCP, IP did for the internet, creating a common foundation for innovation. The question now is not whether RISCV will influence blockchain, but how fast the ecosystem can adapt and whether competing VMs can survive in an environment pushing for standardization. Let me know if you'd like further expansion or refinement of any section.

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