Linea is already de-facto the most Ethereum-aligned L2, why?
1. Type-2 zkEVM
Linea implements an execution layer that aims to match Ethereum’s EVM behavior at the execution level, including opcodes, gas costs, precompiles.
This means:
Developers don’t need to learn anything new, Solidity, Vyper, Hardhat, Foundry, Remix, Ethers.js, Web3.js, MetaMask, WalletConnect, Chainlink oracles, Tenderly, The Graph, and more, everything just works out of the box, exactly like on Ethereum mainnet.
That’s the Ethereum vision:
Preserve the EVM experience, while scaling with rollups.
( * See Vitalik’s zkEVM classification post: The different types of ZK-EVMs)
2. ETH alignment
Linea uses ETH as the native gas token (not a wrapped token or altcoin).
That’s important because Vitalik and the Ethereum community have long emphasized that:
Ethereum-aligned L2s should use ETH for gas, not create their own token economy.
3. Ethereum-centric design choices
Linea’s design favors:
- Reuse of Ethereum infrastructure, including Geth-like execution and dev tools like Hardhat
- Compatibility with Ethereum L1 security assumptions
- No fragmentation of users or assets
4. 
EIP-1559 + Base Fee Burn
Linea is currently the only L2 that fully implements EIP-1559-style gas mechanics, including:
- A base fee that follows Ethereum’s EIP-1559 adjustment logic
- Actual base fee burn, just like on Ethereum L1 (even if it’s a tiny amount like 7 wei).
Because Linea blocks are intentionally underutilized, the base fee doesn’t fluctuate like on L1, but the adjustment rules and burn mechanism are fully in place.
A recent post by Vitalik introduces the idea that Ethereum might one day replace its virtual machine entirely. This would have major implications, not just for L1, but for every rollup built on top.
This is still just a proposal, but I wanted to explore the potential implications for Linea, and why this shift wouldn’t affect its strong alignment with Ethereum or its long-term advantage.
How Linea’s approach differs (based on @AlexandreBelling post):
- Most zk projects are shifting toward zkVMs (especially RISC-V-based) to simplify proving.
- Linea instead uses direct arithmetization; meaning it manually translates EVM logic into math circuits, giving it fine-tuned control and much better performance (in many cases 10x or more).
- This makes Linea faster today, and keeps it tightly aligned with Ethereum’s actual behavior.
Pros of Linea’s approach:
- Best-in-class prover performance and lower latency
- Optimized, circuit-level control
- Minimal bug surface due to no compiler dependency
Tradeoffs:
- Takes more effort to maintain and evolve (each EVM change = circuit change)
- Harder to formally verify: manual optimizations make the circuits faster, but more complex to mathematically prove.
What if Ethereum actually adopts RISC-V? Will Linea lose its advantage?
No, and here’s why:
1. Everyone would need to adapt
If Ethereum replaces the EVM with RISC-V, every L2, including Linea, Scroll, Polygon, zkSync, Starknet etc would need to rethink their execution or proving model. No one is “ready out of the box.”
| L2 Type | Impact if Ethereum adopts RISC-V |
|---|---|
| Linea (Type-2 zkEVM) | Would adapt circuits/prover stack to support RISC-V or Bridge between EVM and RISC-V circuits or transitional execution support |
| Scroll / Polygon | Same: EVM-compatible ZK systems also need rewrites |
| zkSync / Starknet | Already custom VMs, could benefit from converging around a standard |
| Optimistic Rollups | Not using proofs, but would still face upgrade pressure |
Even after adapting, most L2s would not reach Linea’s level of alignment unless they rebuild their execution behavior to match Ethereum’s deeply; not just adopt RISC-V.
2. Linea is already doing the harder job
Linea is already proving EVM logic directly, which is much harder than proving RISC-V. If needed, Linea can shift to proving RISC-V and potentially do it faster and more efficiently, without losing compatibility.
3. Ethereum alignment = matching behavior, not bytecode
Even if RISC-V replaces the EVM, what makes Linea Ethereum-aligned is:
- Matching semantics of
CALL,SLOAD, balances, etc. (Linea replicates not just the API surface of Ethereum, but its deep behavior; down to how storage, balances, and contract calls behave under the hood) - Preserving Ethereum gas model and account structure
- Maintaining full compatibility with dev tools and contract patterns
Linea’s focus has always been replicating Ethereum behavior exactly, not just running contracts; and that doesn’t change based on what virtual machine is used underneath.