diff --git a/build/checksums.txt b/build/checksums.txt
index 454efa93c4..d6a9f2b803 100644
--- a/build/checksums.txt
+++ b/build/checksums.txt
@@ -5,6 +5,11 @@
 # https://github.com/ethereum/execution-spec-tests/releases/download/v5.1.0
 a3192784375acec7eaec492799d5c5d0c47a2909a3cc40178898e4ecd20cc416  fixtures_develop.tar.gz
 
+# version:spec-tests-bal v7.2.0
+# https://github.com/ethereum/execution-specs/releases
+# https://github.com/ethereum/execution-specs/releases/download/tests-bal%40v7.2.0
+fc1d9ae174cdd5db789068839999e6f83666cc79f7dac36e973d7616d9a2e2cf  fixtures_bal.tar.gz
+
 # version:golang 1.25.10
 # https://go.dev/dl/
 20cf04a92e5af99748e341bc8996fa28090c9ac98765fa115ec5ddf41d7af41d  go1.25.10.src.tar.gz
diff --git a/build/ci.go b/build/ci.go
index 173a3280ce..8948c2230e 100644
--- a/build/ci.go
+++ b/build/ci.go
@@ -164,6 +164,9 @@ var (
 
 	// This is where the tests should be unpacked.
 	executionSpecTestsDir = "tests/spec-tests"
+
+	// This is where the bal-specific release of the tests should be unpacked.
+	executionSpecTestsBALDir = "tests/spec-tests-bal"
 )
 
 var GOBIN, _ = filepath.Abs(filepath.Join("build", "bin"))
@@ -402,6 +405,7 @@ func doTest(cmdline []string) {
 	// Get test fixtures.
 	if !*short {
 		downloadSpecTestFixtures(csdb, *cachedir)
+		downloadBALSpecTestFixtures(csdb, *cachedir)
 	}
 
 	// Configure the toolchain.
@@ -467,6 +471,20 @@ func downloadSpecTestFixtures(csdb *download.ChecksumDB, cachedir string) string
 	return filepath.Join(cachedir, base)
 }
 
+// downloadBALSpecTestFixtures downloads and extracts the bal-specific execution-spec-tests fixtures.
+func downloadBALSpecTestFixtures(csdb *download.ChecksumDB, cachedir string) string {
+	ext := ".tar.gz"
+	base := "fixtures_bal"
+	archivePath := filepath.Join(cachedir, base+ext)
+	if err := csdb.DownloadFileFromKnownURL(archivePath); err != nil {
+		log.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := build.ExtractArchive(archivePath, executionSpecTestsBALDir); err != nil {
+		log.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	return filepath.Join(cachedir, base)
+}
+
 // doCheckGenerate ensures that re-generating generated files does not cause
 // any mutations in the source file tree.
 func doCheckGenerate() {
diff --git a/tests/block_test.go b/tests/block_test.go
index 0f087967bb..31bb4f9d36 100644
--- a/tests/block_test.go
+++ b/tests/block_test.go
@@ -82,8 +82,17 @@ func TestBlockchain(t *testing.T) {
 
 // TestExecutionSpecBlocktests runs the test fixtures from execution-spec-tests.
 func TestExecutionSpecBlocktests(t *testing.T) {
-	if !common.FileExist(executionSpecBlockchainTestDir) {
-		t.Skipf("directory %s does not exist", executionSpecBlockchainTestDir)
+	testExecutionSpecBlocktests(t, executionSpecBlockchainTestDir)
+}
+
+// TestExecutionSpecBlocktestsBAL runs the BAL release test fixtures from execution-spec-tests.
+func TestExecutionSpecBlocktestsBAL(t *testing.T) {
+	testExecutionSpecBlocktests(t, executionSpecBALBlockchainTestDir)
+}
+
+func testExecutionSpecBlocktests(t *testing.T, testDir string) {
+	if !common.FileExist(testDir) {
+		t.Skipf("directory %s does not exist", testDir)
 	}
 	bt := new(testMatcher)
 
@@ -97,7 +106,7 @@ func TestExecutionSpecBlocktests(t *testing.T) {
 	bt.skipLoad(`dynamicAccountOverwriteEmpty_Paris`)
 	bt.skipLoad(`create2collisionStorageParis`)
 
-	bt.walk(t, executionSpecBlockchainTestDir, func(t *testing.T, name string, test *BlockTest) {
+	bt.walk(t, testDir, func(t *testing.T, name string, test *BlockTest) {
 		execBlockTest(t, bt, test)
 	})
 }
diff --git a/tests/init_test.go b/tests/init_test.go
index b933c9808c..20c9e8e1c9 100644
--- a/tests/init_test.go
+++ b/tests/init_test.go
@@ -41,9 +41,10 @@ var (
 	transactionTestDir              = filepath.Join(baseDir, "TransactionTests")
 	rlpTestDir                      = filepath.Join(baseDir, "RLPTests")
 	difficultyTestDir               = filepath.Join(baseDir, "BasicTests")
-	executionSpecBlockchainTestDir  = filepath.Join(".", "spec-tests", "fixtures", "blockchain_tests")
-	executionSpecStateTestDir       = filepath.Join(".", "spec-tests", "fixtures", "state_tests")
-	executionSpecTransactionTestDir = filepath.Join(".", "spec-tests", "fixtures", "transaction_tests")
+	executionSpecBlockchainTestDir    = filepath.Join(".", "spec-tests", "fixtures", "blockchain_tests")
+	executionSpecBALBlockchainTestDir = filepath.Join(".", "spec-tests-bal", "fixtures", "blockchain_tests")
+	executionSpecStateTestDir         = filepath.Join(".", "spec-tests", "fixtures", "state_tests")
+	executionSpecTransactionTestDir   = filepath.Join(".", "spec-tests", "fixtures", "transaction_tests")
 	benchmarksDir                   = filepath.Join(".", "evm-benchmarks", "benchmarks")
 )