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A NeoVM-compatible RISC-V virtual machine solution for Neo 4 has passed block-by-block state root verification against the full Neo MainNet dataset, confirming the design has moved beyond the conceptual stage. Neo co-founder and core developer Erik Zhang shared the milestone, describing the result as validation that the approach produces identical state transitions to the existing system.
The achievement follows Zhang’s draft Neo 4 roadmap published in Sept. 2025, which proposed NeoVM 2 as a next-generation virtual machine with RISC-V compatibility, fine-grained gas metering, and improved cost efficiency. At the time, Zhang stated that adoption of RISC-V would allow Neo to onboard existing developer infrastructure, improve efficiency, and enhance support for zero-knowledge proofs.
Architecture and validation
The implementation integrates PolkaVM, a RISC-V-based virtual machine originally developed by Parity Technologies for the Polkadot ecosystem, into Neo’s execution environment. An architecture diagram shared by Neo core developer Jimmy Liao illustrates the layered design: the Neo Core C# node interfaces with a PolkaVM Host Runtime written in Rust through a Foreign Function Interface bridge, with a RISC-V sandbox layer supporting both legacy NeoVM bytecode and native RISC-V contracts.
The NeoVM-compatible RISC-V VM solution has been completed. State root-level verification passed for every block on the mainnet data. Still an exploratory work. pic.twitter.com/GY2RKjU9U1
— jimmy.neo (@r3ejimmy) April 11, 2026
State root verification works by comparing the cryptographic hash representing the blockchain’s entire state at each block height. By running the new VM implementation against every MainNet block and confirming matching state roots throughout, the team demonstrated functional equivalence between the RISC-V-based system and the existing NeoVM.
Two paths for Neo’s future
Zhang stated that the validated solution opens two paths for Neo’s development: preserving compatibility with the existing NeoVM contract ecosystem, and creating room for native RISC-V contract execution. He said:
“This is still exploratory work, but the direction is now clear: expand Neo’s VM capabilities and developer possibilities without fragmenting the existing ecosystem.”
The dual-path approach aligns with the broader Neo 4 design philosophy, which emphasizes complete backward compatibility to ensure existing tokens, smart contracts, and applications deployed on Neo N3 continue to function without migration or redeployment.
RISC-V is an open-source instruction set architecture that enables smart contracts to be compiled to a standard instruction set rather than custom bytecode, potentially broadening language and tooling support. Other blockchain projects, including Ethereum, have explored RISC-V as a complement or replacement for existing VM architectures.
Zhang’s original announcement can be found at the link below:
https://x.com/erikzhang/status/2042992425145160183
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