diff --git a/core/bench_test.go b/core/bench_test.go
index 47b991e5a3..4e3923e4fe 100644
--- a/core/bench_test.go
+++ b/core/bench_test.go
@@ -18,7 +18,12 @@ package core
 
 import (
 	"crypto/ecdsa"
+	"encoding/binary"
+	"encoding/hex"
 	"math/big"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common"
@@ -68,6 +73,12 @@ func BenchmarkInsertChain_ring1000_memdb(b *testing.B) {
 func BenchmarkInsertChain_ring1000_diskdb(b *testing.B) {
 	benchInsertChain(b, true, genTxRing(1000))
 }
+func BenchmarkInsertChain_evmWorkload_memdb(b *testing.B) {
+	benchInsertChainEVM(b, false)
+}
+func BenchmarkInsertChain_evmWorkload_diskdb(b *testing.B) {
+	benchInsertChainEVM(b, true)
+}
 
 var (
 	// This is the content of the genesis block used by the benchmarks.
@@ -208,6 +219,110 @@ func benchInsertChain(b *testing.B, disk bool, gen func(int, *BlockGen)) {
 	}
 }
 
+// The evmWorkload addresses hold the evm-bench contracts (see
+// core/vm/runtime/testdata), installed through the genesis alloc. Their
+// runtime bytecode sets up all state inside Benchmark(), so no constructor
+// runs.
+var benchWorkloadAddrs = []common.Address{
+	common.HexToAddress("0x00000000000000000000000000000000000e0001"), // ERC20Transfer
+	common.HexToAddress("0x00000000000000000000000000000000000e0002"), // ERC20Mint
+	common.HexToAddress("0x00000000000000000000000000000000000e0003"), // ERC20ApprovalTransfer
+	common.HexToAddress("0x00000000000000000000000000000000000e0004"), // TenThousandHashes
+}
+
+func benchWorkloadCode(tb testing.TB) [][]byte {
+	files := []string{"erc20transfer.hex", "erc20mint.hex", "erc20approval.hex", "tenthousandhashes.hex"}
+	codes := make([][]byte, len(files))
+	for i, name := range files {
+		raw, err := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join("vm", "runtime", "testdata", name))
+		if err != nil {
+			tb.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		code, err := hex.DecodeString(strings.TrimSpace(string(raw)))
+		if err != nil {
+			tb.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		codes[i] = code
+	}
+	return codes
+}
+
+// benchInsertChainEVM measures InsertChain over blocks dominated by real
+// contract execution, as a coarse local surrogate for sync throughput: the
+// timed path is full block processing, including sender recovery, EVM
+// execution, state updates, receipts, bloom filters and the state root.
+// Every block invokes the four evm-bench workloads (ERC-20 transfer, mint
+// and approval loops plus a keccak loop) and sends ten value transfers to
+// fresh accounts so the state grows as it would during sync. Reports Mgas/s
+// alongside the standard timings.
+func benchInsertChainEVM(b *testing.B, disk bool) {
+	var db ethdb.Database
+	if !disk {
+		db = rawdb.NewMemoryDatabase()
+	} else {
+		pdb, err := pebble.New(b.TempDir(), 128, 128, "", false)
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("cannot create temporary database: %v", err)
+		}
+		db = rawdb.NewDatabase(pdb)
+		defer db.Close()
+	}
+	alloc := types.GenesisAlloc{benchRootAddr: {Balance: benchRootFunds}}
+	for i, code := range benchWorkloadCode(b) {
+		alloc[benchWorkloadAddrs[i]] = types.Account{Code: code, Balance: new(big.Int)}
+	}
+	gspec := &Genesis{
+		Config:   params.TestChainConfig,
+		Alloc:    alloc,
+		GasLimit: 150_000_000,
+	}
+	selector := []byte{0x30, 0x62, 0x7b, 0x7c} // Benchmark()
+	_, chain, _ := GenerateChainWithGenesis(gspec, ethash.NewFaker(), b.N, func(i int, gen *BlockGen) {
+		signer := gen.Signer()
+		gasPrice := big.NewInt(0)
+		if gen.header.BaseFee != nil {
+			gasPrice = gen.header.BaseFee
+		}
+		for _, addr := range benchWorkloadAddrs {
+			to := addr
+			tx, _ := types.SignNewTx(benchRootKey, signer, &types.LegacyTx{
+				Nonce:    gen.TxNonce(benchRootAddr),
+				To:       &to,
+				Gas:      30_000_000,
+				Data:     selector,
+				GasPrice: gasPrice,
+			})
+			gen.AddTx(tx)
+		}
+		for j := 0; j < 10; j++ {
+			var to common.Address
+			binary.BigEndian.PutUint64(to[4:12], uint64(i+1))
+			binary.BigEndian.PutUint64(to[12:20], uint64(j+1))
+			tx, _ := types.SignNewTx(benchRootKey, signer, &types.LegacyTx{
+				Nonce:    gen.TxNonce(benchRootAddr),
+				To:       &to,
+				Value:    big.NewInt(1),
+				Gas:      params.TxGas,
+				GasPrice: gasPrice,
+			})
+			gen.AddTx(tx)
+		}
+	})
+	var totalGas uint64
+	for _, block := range chain {
+		totalGas += block.GasUsed()
+	}
+	chainman, _ := NewBlockChain(db, gspec, ethash.NewFaker(), nil)
+	defer chainman.Stop()
+	b.ReportAllocs()
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	if i, err := chainman.InsertChain(chain); err != nil {
+		b.Fatalf("insert error (block %d): %v\n", i, err)
+	}
+	b.StopTimer()
+	b.ReportMetric(float64(totalGas)/1e6/b.Elapsed().Seconds(), "Mgas/s")
+}
+
 func BenchmarkChainRead_header_10k(b *testing.B) {
 	benchReadChain(b, false, 10000)
 }
diff --git a/core/vm/runtime/testdata/evm-bench/README.md b/core/vm/runtime/testdata/evm-bench/README.md
index cc5ec51620..fccea2ce87 100644
--- a/core/vm/runtime/testdata/evm-bench/README.md
+++ b/core/vm/runtime/testdata/evm-bench/README.md
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ workload:
 | `ERC20Transfer` | ERC-20 transfers in a loop |
 | `ERC20Mint` | 5000 `_mint`s (SSTORE/keccak/LOG-heavy) |
 | `ERC20ApprovalTransfer` | 1000 approve+transferFrom cycles |
-| `TenThousandHashes` | a keccak loop |
+| `TenThousandHashes` | 20000 chained keccak256 calls |
 
 ## Running
 
@@ -40,6 +40,16 @@ interpreter change is committed) and runs `benchstat`.
 the evm-bench Solidity sources (solc 0.8.17 via docker). These contracts set up
 their state inside `Benchmark()`, so the runtime bytecode is callable directly.
 
+`TenThousandHashes` is compiled from the vendored
+[`TenThousandHashes.sol`](TenThousandHashes.sol) in this directory, not the
+upstream evm-bench file. Upstream discards the hash result, so solc's optimizer
+deletes the keccak256 and the compiled benchmark degenerates into a bare
+counter loop performing a single static hash. The vendored copy chains the hash
+through a returned accumulator so the optimized bytecode performs all 20000
+hashes. Numbers for this benchmark are therefore not comparable with evm-bench
+or gevm published tables, which use degenerate bytecode (gevm's local
+replacement is broken differently, an inverted loop bound that hashes once).
+
 `snailtracer.hex` is **vendored, not regenerated by gen.sh**: evm-bench's
 `SnailTracer` initializes its scene in the constructor, so its runtime bytecode
 (no constructor) renders an empty scene. The committed file is a runtime-callable
@@ -53,4 +63,5 @@ The `.hex` files are committed, so running the benchmarks needs no toolchain.
 - The contract constructor is not executed, so storage starts empty. The
   evm-bench contracts set up whatever state they need inside `Benchmark()`,
   matching the work the evm-bench harness measures.
-- Names match evm-bench / gevm for cross-comparison.
+- Names match evm-bench / gevm for cross-comparison, except `TenThousandHashes`
+  (see the regenerating section).
diff --git a/core/vm/runtime/testdata/evm-bench/TenThousandHashes.sol b/core/vm/runtime/testdata/evm-bench/TenThousandHashes.sol
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..004215e96f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/vm/runtime/testdata/evm-bench/TenThousandHashes.sol
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0
+pragma solidity ^0.8.17;
+
+// Vendored from evm-bench (github.com/ziyadedher/evm-bench) with one fix.
+// The upstream loop discards the keccak256 result, so solc's optimizer
+// removes the pure call entirely and the compiled benchmark degenerates
+// into a bare counter loop that performs a single static hash. Chaining
+// the hash through an accumulator that the function returns keeps all
+// 20000 hashes in the optimized bytecode. The Benchmark() selector is
+// unchanged because return types are not part of the signature.
+contract TenThousandHashes {
+    function Benchmark() external pure returns (bytes32 acc) {
+        for (uint256 i = 0; i < 20000; i++) {
+            acc = keccak256(abi.encodePacked(acc, i));
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/core/vm/runtime/testdata/evm-bench/compare.sh b/core/vm/runtime/testdata/evm-bench/compare.sh
index 7ae00603a1..624120bf6e 100755
--- a/core/vm/runtime/testdata/evm-bench/compare.sh
+++ b/core/vm/runtime/testdata/evm-bench/compare.sh
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ COUNT="${2:-10}"
 # pattern, so the loops run as their own invocation anyway).
 BENCHES=(
 	'^BenchmarkSnailtracer$:20x'
-	'^BenchmarkTenThousandHashes$:200x'
+	'^BenchmarkTenThousandHashes$:100x'
 	'^BenchmarkERC20Transfer$:100x'
 	'^BenchmarkERC20Mint$:150x'
 	'^BenchmarkERC20ApprovalTransfer$:120x'
diff --git a/core/vm/runtime/testdata/evm-bench/gen.sh b/core/vm/runtime/testdata/evm-bench/gen.sh
index 6b69134823..26dbb6b73d 100755
--- a/core/vm/runtime/testdata/evm-bench/gen.sh
+++ b/core/vm/runtime/testdata/evm-bench/gen.sh
@@ -8,15 +8,24 @@
 # contract's pragma: 0.8.17 for the ERC-20/hashing contracts, 0.4.26 for the
 # legacy SnailTracer.
 #
+# TenThousandHashes is compiled from the vendored TenThousandHashes.sol in
+# this directory rather than the upstream file. Upstream discards the hash
+# result, so the optimizer deletes the keccak256 and the benchmark degenerates
+# into a bare counter loop. The vendored copy chains the hash through a
+# returned accumulator, which keeps all 20000 hashes in the bytecode. See the
+# comment in that file.
+#
 # Usage: core/vm/runtime/testdata/evm-bench/gen.sh
 set -euo pipefail
 
 TD="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd)"   # .../core/vm/runtime/testdata
+HERE="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"    # .../testdata/evm-bench
 WORK="$(mktemp -d)"
 trap 'rm -rf "$WORK"' EXIT
 
 git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ziyadedher/evm-bench "$WORK/evm-bench" >/dev/null 2>&1
 B="$WORK/evm-bench/benchmarks"
+cp "$HERE/TenThousandHashes.sol" "$B/ten-thousand-hashes/TenThousandHashes.sol"
 
 # ERC-20 (transfer/mint/approval) + ten-thousand-hashes: pragma ^0.8.17. These
 # set up all their state inside Benchmark(), so the runtime bytecode is callable
diff --git a/core/vm/runtime/testdata/tenthousandhashes.hex b/core/vm/runtime/testdata/tenthousandhashes.hex
index 2892c1d984..f2903b13d9 100644
--- a/core/vm/runtime/testdata/tenthousandhashes.hex
+++ b/core/vm/runtime/testdata/tenthousandhashes.hex
@@ -1 +1 @@
-6080604052348015600f57600080fd5b506004361060285760003560e01c806330627b7c14602d575b600080fd5b60336035565b005b60005b614e20811015606a5760408051602081018390520160408051601f198184030190525280606381606d565b9150506038565b50565b600060018201608c57634e487b7160e01b600052601160045260246000fd5b506001019056fea2646970667358221220e499ea6d1ccd5fce28e8cd2507f6fef33f0d005543e04580f290bbd01df0655464736f6c63430008110033
\ No newline at end of file
+6080604052348015600f57600080fd5b506004361060285760003560e01c806330627b7c14602d575b600080fd5b60336045565b60405190815260200160405180910390f35b6000805b614e20811015608e57604080516020810184905290810182905260600160405160208183030381529060405280519060200120915080806087906092565b9150506049565b5090565b60006001820160b157634e487b7160e01b600052601160045260246000fd5b506001019056fea26469706673582212207f65e4c71aef311b81ff8b065cdd78f5be33f5dc80d3b2318e118075e33697f164736f6c63430008110033
\ No newline at end of file