Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed replacing the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) contract language with the RISC-V instruction set architecture to enhance the speed and efficiency of Ethereum's execution layer. In his proposal, Buterin identified several long-term bottlenecks in Ethereum, including stable data availability sampling and zero-knowledge EVM proving. He believes that adopting RISC-V for smart contracts could improve block production competition and zero-knowledge functionality. Buterin asserts that significant efficiency gains, potentially up to 100 times, could be achieved through this change. The proposal comes amid Ethereum's ongoing challenges in improving throughput and competing with newer blockchains like Solana and Sui. He also mentioned a decline in Ethereum network weekly transaction fees, attributed to users opting for layer-2 scaling solutions, which has raised concerns about revenue on the base layer and its impact on Ether's value, potentially dropping it further if confidence wanes.

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