diff --git a/core/chain_makers.go b/core/chain_makers.go
index b2559495a1..af55716cca 100644
--- a/core/chain_makers.go
+++ b/core/chain_makers.go
@@ -540,8 +540,10 @@ func GenerateVerkleChain(config *params.ChainConfig, parent *types.Block, engine
 		return block, b.receipts
 	}
 
+	sdb := state.NewDatabase(trdb, nil)
+
 	for i := 0; i < n; i++ {
-		statedb, err := state.New(parent.Root(), state.NewDatabase(trdb, nil))
+		statedb, err := state.New(parent.Root(), sdb)
 		if err != nil {
 			panic(err)
 		}
diff --git a/core/overlay/state_transition.go b/core/overlay/state_transition.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..90b5c9431a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/overlay/state_transition.go
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+// Copyright 2025 The go-ethereum Authors
+// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+package overlay
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/gob"
+
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/core/rawdb"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/ethdb"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/log"
+)
+
+// TransitionState is a structure that holds the progress markers of the
+// translation process.
+type TransitionState struct {
+	CurrentAccountAddress *common.Address // addresss of the last translated account
+	CurrentSlotHash       common.Hash     // hash of the last translated storage slot
+	CurrentPreimageOffset int64           // next byte to read from the preimage file
+	Started, Ended        bool
+
+	// Mark whether the storage for an account has been processed. This is useful if the
+	// maximum number of leaves of the conversion is reached before the whole storage is
+	// processed.
+	StorageProcessed bool
+
+	BaseRoot common.Hash // hash of the last read-only MPT base tree
+}
+
+// InTransition returns true if the translation process is in progress.
+func (ts *TransitionState) InTransition() bool {
+	return ts != nil && ts.Started && !ts.Ended
+}
+
+// Transitioned returns true if the translation process has been completed.
+func (ts *TransitionState) Transitioned() bool {
+	return ts != nil && ts.Ended
+}
+
+// Copy returns a deep copy of the TransitionState object.
+func (ts *TransitionState) Copy() *TransitionState {
+	ret := &TransitionState{
+		Started:               ts.Started,
+		Ended:                 ts.Ended,
+		CurrentSlotHash:       ts.CurrentSlotHash,
+		CurrentPreimageOffset: ts.CurrentPreimageOffset,
+		StorageProcessed:      ts.StorageProcessed,
+	}
+	if ts.CurrentAccountAddress != nil {
+		addr := *ts.CurrentAccountAddress
+		ret.CurrentAccountAddress = &addr
+	}
+	return ret
+}
+
+// LoadTransitionState retrieves the Verkle transition state associated with
+// the given state root hash from the database.
+func LoadTransitionState(db ethdb.KeyValueReader, root common.Hash, isVerkle bool) *TransitionState {
+	var ts *TransitionState
+
+	data, _ := rawdb.ReadVerkleTransitionState(db, root)
+
+	// if a state could be read from the db, attempt to decode it
+	if len(data) > 0 {
+		var (
+			newts TransitionState
+			buf   = bytes.NewBuffer(data[:])
+			dec   = gob.NewDecoder(buf)
+		)
+		// Decode transition state
+		err := dec.Decode(&newts)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Error("failed to decode transition state", "err", err)
+			return nil
+		}
+		ts = &newts
+	}
+
+	// Fallback that should only happen before the transition
+	if ts == nil {
+		// Initialize the first transition state, with the "ended"
+		// field set to true if the database was created
+		// as a verkle database.
+		log.Debug("no transition state found, starting fresh", "is verkle", db)
+
+		// Start with a fresh state
+		ts = &TransitionState{Ended: isVerkle}
+	}
+	return ts
+}
diff --git a/core/rawdb/accessors_overlay.go b/core/rawdb/accessors_overlay.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..364cc889d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/rawdb/accessors_overlay.go
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+// Copyright 2025 The go-ethereum Authors
+// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+package rawdb
+
+import (
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/ethdb"
+)
+
+func ReadVerkleTransitionState(db ethdb.KeyValueReader, hash common.Hash) ([]byte, error) {
+	return db.Get(transitionStateKey(hash))
+}
+
+func WriteVerkleTransitionState(db ethdb.KeyValueWriter, hash common.Hash, state []byte) error {
+	return db.Put(transitionStateKey(hash), state)
+}
diff --git a/core/rawdb/database.go b/core/rawdb/database.go
index 2ebdf360b5..25cd20d164 100644
--- a/core/rawdb/database.go
+++ b/core/rawdb/database.go
@@ -604,7 +604,7 @@ var knownMetadataKeys = [][]byte{
 	snapshotGeneratorKey, snapshotRecoveryKey, txIndexTailKey, fastTxLookupLimitKey,
 	uncleanShutdownKey, badBlockKey, transitionStatusKey, skeletonSyncStatusKey,
 	persistentStateIDKey, trieJournalKey, snapshotSyncStatusKey, snapSyncStatusFlagKey,
-	filterMapsRangeKey, headStateHistoryIndexKey,
+	filterMapsRangeKey, headStateHistoryIndexKey, VerkleTransitionStatePrefix,
 }
 
 // printChainMetadata prints out chain metadata to stderr.
diff --git a/core/rawdb/schema.go b/core/rawdb/schema.go
index 388a08f243..72f9bd34ec 100644
--- a/core/rawdb/schema.go
+++ b/core/rawdb/schema.go
@@ -158,6 +158,9 @@ var (
 	preimageCounter     = metrics.NewRegisteredCounter("db/preimage/total", nil)
 	preimageHitsCounter = metrics.NewRegisteredCounter("db/preimage/hits", nil)
 	preimageMissCounter = metrics.NewRegisteredCounter("db/preimage/miss", nil)
+
+	// Verkle transition information
+	VerkleTransitionStatePrefix = []byte("verkle-transition-state-")
 )
 
 // LegacyTxLookupEntry is the legacy TxLookupEntry definition with some unnecessary
@@ -397,3 +400,8 @@ func storageHistoryIndexBlockKey(addressHash common.Hash, storageHash common.Has
 	binary.BigEndian.PutUint32(buf[:], blockID)
 	return append(append(append(StateHistoryStorageBlockPrefix, addressHash.Bytes()...), storageHash.Bytes()...), buf[:]...)
 }
+
+// transitionStateKey = transitionStatusKey + hash
+func transitionStateKey(hash common.Hash) []byte {
+	return append(VerkleTransitionStatePrefix, hash.Bytes()...)
+}
diff --git a/core/state/database.go b/core/state/database.go
index 5fb198a629..b46e5d500d 100644
--- a/core/state/database.go
+++ b/core/state/database.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common/lru"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/core/overlay"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/core/rawdb"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/core/state/snapshot"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/core/types"
@@ -151,17 +152,21 @@ type CachingDB struct {
 	codeCache     *lru.SizeConstrainedCache[common.Hash, []byte]
 	codeSizeCache *lru.Cache[common.Hash, int]
 	pointCache    *utils.PointCache
+
+	// Transition-specific fields
+	TransitionStatePerRoot *lru.Cache[common.Hash, *overlay.TransitionState]
 }
 
 // NewDatabase creates a state database with the provided data sources.
 func NewDatabase(triedb *triedb.Database, snap *snapshot.Tree) *CachingDB {
 	return &CachingDB{
-		disk:          triedb.Disk(),
-		triedb:        triedb,
-		snap:          snap,
-		codeCache:     lru.NewSizeConstrainedCache[common.Hash, []byte](codeCacheSize),
-		codeSizeCache: lru.NewCache[common.Hash, int](codeSizeCacheSize),
-		pointCache:    utils.NewPointCache(pointCacheSize),
+		disk:                   triedb.Disk(),
+		triedb:                 triedb,
+		snap:                   snap,
+		codeCache:              lru.NewSizeConstrainedCache[common.Hash, []byte](codeCacheSize),
+		codeSizeCache:          lru.NewCache[common.Hash, int](codeSizeCacheSize),
+		pointCache:             utils.NewPointCache(pointCacheSize),
+		TransitionStatePerRoot: lru.NewCache[common.Hash, *overlay.TransitionState](1000),
 	}
 }
 
@@ -224,7 +229,13 @@ func (db *CachingDB) ReadersWithCacheStats(stateRoot common.Hash) (ReaderWithSta
 // OpenTrie opens the main account trie at a specific root hash.
 func (db *CachingDB) OpenTrie(root common.Hash) (Trie, error) {
 	if db.triedb.IsVerkle() {
-		return trie.NewVerkleTrie(root, db.triedb, db.pointCache)
+		ts := overlay.LoadTransitionState(db.TrieDB().Disk(), root, db.triedb.IsVerkle())
+		if ts.InTransition() {
+			panic("transition isn't supported yet")
+		}
+		if ts.Transitioned() {
+			return trie.NewVerkleTrie(root, db.triedb, db.pointCache)
+		}
 	}
 	tr, err := trie.NewStateTrie(trie.StateTrieID(root), db.triedb)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -235,9 +246,6 @@ func (db *CachingDB) OpenTrie(root common.Hash) (Trie, error) {
 
 // OpenStorageTrie opens the storage trie of an account.
 func (db *CachingDB) OpenStorageTrie(stateRoot common.Hash, address common.Address, root common.Hash, self Trie) (Trie, error) {
-	// In the verkle case, there is only one tree. But the two-tree structure
-	// is hardcoded in the codebase. So we need to return the same trie in this
-	// case.
 	if db.triedb.IsVerkle() {
 		return self, nil
 	}
diff --git a/core/state/reader.go b/core/state/reader.go
index 4628f4d5db..f56a1bfae1 100644
--- a/core/state/reader.go
+++ b/core/state/reader.go
@@ -241,6 +241,7 @@ func newTrieReader(root common.Hash, db *triedb.Database, cache *utils.PointCach
 	if !db.IsVerkle() {
 		tr, err = trie.NewStateTrie(trie.StateTrieID(root), db)
 	} else {
+		// TODO @gballet determine the trie type (verkle or overlay) by transition state
 		tr, err = trie.NewVerkleTrie(root, db, cache)
 	}
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/core/verkle_witness_test.go b/core/verkle_witness_test.go
index a89672e6e5..e200bf7f50 100644
--- a/core/verkle_witness_test.go
+++ b/core/verkle_witness_test.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding/binary"
 	"encoding/hex"
+	"fmt"
 	"math/big"
 	"slices"
 	"testing"
@@ -202,12 +203,15 @@ func TestProcessVerkle(t *testing.T) {
 
 	t.Log("verified verkle proof, inserting blocks into the chain")
 
+	for i, b := range chain {
+		fmt.Printf("%d %x\n", i, b.Root())
+	}
 	endnum, err := blockchain.InsertChain(chain)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("block %d imported with error: %v", endnum, err)
 	}
 
-	for i := 0; i < 2; i++ {
+	for i := range 2 {
 		b := blockchain.GetBlockByNumber(uint64(i) + 1)
 		if b == nil {
 			t.Fatalf("expected block %d to be present in chain", i+1)