diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index eb82b87b9..3cbfb0638 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -231,6 +231,12 @@ version = "0.1.7"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "1d49d90015b3c36167a20fe2810c5cd875ad504b39cff3d4eae7977e6b7c1cb2"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "autocfg"
+version = "1.0.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f8aac770f1885fd7e387acedd76065302551364496e46b3dd00860b2f8359b9d"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "backtrace"
 version = "0.3.43"
@@ -306,7 +312,7 @@ version = "1.1.4"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "9f04a5e50dc80b3d5d35320889053637d15011aed5e66b66b37ae798c65da6f7"
 dependencies = [
- "autocfg",
+ "autocfg 0.1.7",
  "byteorder",
  "serde",
 ]
@@ -761,9 +767,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "criterion"
-version = "0.3.0"
+version = "0.3.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "938703e165481c8d612ea3479ac8342e5615185db37765162e762ec3523e2fc6"
+checksum = "1fc755679c12bda8e5523a71e4d654b6bf2e14bd838dfc48cde6559a05caf7d1"
 dependencies = [
  "atty",
  "cast",
@@ -773,10 +779,10 @@ dependencies = [
  "itertools",
  "lazy_static",
  "num-traits 0.2.6",
- "rand_core 0.5.1",
- "rand_os 0.2.2",
- "rand_xoshiro",
+ "oorandom",
+ "plotters",
  "rayon",
+ "regex",
  "serde",
  "serde_derive",
  "serde_json",
@@ -786,9 +792,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "criterion-plot"
-version = "0.4.0"
+version = "0.4.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "eccdc6ce8bbe352ca89025bee672aa6d24f4eb8c53e3a8b5d1bc58011da072a2"
+checksum = "a01e15e0ea58e8234f96146b1f91fa9d0e4dd7a38da93ff7a75d42c0b9d3a545"
 dependencies = [
  "cast",
  "itertools",
@@ -800,18 +806,19 @@ version = "0.6.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "05e44b8cf3e1a625844d1750e1f7820da46044ff6d28f4d43e455ba3e5bb2c13"
 dependencies = [
- "crossbeam-epoch",
+ "crossbeam-epoch 0.7.2",
  "crossbeam-utils 0.6.6",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "crossbeam-deque"
-version = "0.7.1"
+version = "0.7.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "b18cd2e169ad86297e6bc0ad9aa679aee9daa4f19e8163860faf7c164e4f5a71"
+checksum = "9f02af974daeee82218205558e51ec8768b48cf524bd01d550abe5573a608285"
 dependencies = [
- "crossbeam-epoch",
- "crossbeam-utils 0.6.6",
+ "crossbeam-epoch 0.8.2",
+ "crossbeam-utils 0.7.2",
+ "maybe-uninit",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -828,6 +835,21 @@ dependencies = [
  "scopeguard 1.0.0",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "crossbeam-epoch"
+version = "0.8.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "058ed274caafc1f60c4997b5fc07bf7dc7cca454af7c6e81edffe5f33f70dace"
+dependencies = [
+ "autocfg 1.0.0",
+ "cfg-if",
+ "crossbeam-utils 0.7.2",
+ "lazy_static",
+ "maybe-uninit",
+ "memoffset",
+ "scopeguard 1.0.0",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "crossbeam-queue"
 version = "0.1.2"
@@ -837,6 +859,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "crossbeam-utils 0.6.6",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "crossbeam-queue"
+version = "0.2.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "c695eeca1e7173472a32221542ae469b3e9aac3a4fc81f7696bcad82029493db"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+ "crossbeam-utils 0.7.2",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "crossbeam-utils"
 version = "0.5.0"
@@ -853,6 +885,17 @@ dependencies = [
  "lazy_static",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "crossbeam-utils"
+version = "0.7.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "c3c7c73a2d1e9fc0886a08b93e98eb643461230d5f1925e4036204d5f2e261a8"
+dependencies = [
+ "autocfg 1.0.0",
+ "cfg-if",
+ "lazy_static",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "crunchy"
 version = "0.1.6"
@@ -1805,12 +1848,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "account-db",
  "account-state",
  "common-types",
+ "criterion",
  "env_logger 0.5.13",
  "ethcore",
+ "ethcore-db",
  "ethereum-types",
  "evm",
  "hash-db",
  "hex-literal",
+ "journaldb",
  "keccak-hash",
  "keccak-hasher 0.1.1",
  "kvdb",
@@ -1821,6 +1867,8 @@ dependencies = [
  "patricia-trie-ethereum",
  "pod",
  "spec",
+ "state-db",
+ "tempdir",
  "trace",
  "trie-db",
  "trie-vm-factories",
@@ -2090,7 +2138,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "8e6073d0ca812575946eb5f35ff68dbe519907b25c42530389ff946dc84c6ead"
 dependencies = [
  "ahash",
- "autocfg",
+ "autocfg 0.1.7",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -2304,7 +2352,7 @@ version = "1.3.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "712d7b3ea5827fcb9d4fda14bf4da5f136f0db2ae9c8f4bd4e2d1c6fde4e6db2"
 dependencies = [
- "autocfg",
+ "autocfg 0.1.7",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -2799,6 +2847,12 @@ version = "0.1.8"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "7ffc5c5338469d4d3ea17d269fa8ea3512ad247247c30bd2df69e68309ed0a08"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "maybe-uninit"
+version = "2.0.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "60302e4db3a61da70c0cb7991976248362f30319e88850c487b9b95bbf059e00"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "memchr"
 version = "2.2.1"
@@ -3140,6 +3194,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "winapi-build",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "oorandom"
+version = "11.1.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ebcec7c9c2a95cacc7cd0ecb89d8a8454eca13906f6deb55258ffff0adeb9405"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "opaque-debug"
 version = "0.2.2"
@@ -3771,6 +3831,18 @@ dependencies = [
  "crunchy 0.1.6",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "plotters"
+version = "0.2.12"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "4e3bb8da247d27ae212529352020f3e5ee16e83c0c258061d27b08ab92675eeb"
+dependencies = [
+ "js-sys",
+ "num-traits 0.2.6",
+ "wasm-bindgen",
+ "web-sys",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "pod"
 version = "0.1.0"
@@ -4002,14 +4074,14 @@ version = "0.6.5"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "6d71dacdc3c88c1fde3885a3be3fbab9f35724e6ce99467f7d9c5026132184ca"
 dependencies = [
- "autocfg",
+ "autocfg 0.1.7",
  "libc",
  "rand_chacha 0.1.1",
  "rand_core 0.4.2",
  "rand_hc 0.1.0",
  "rand_isaac",
  "rand_jitter",
- "rand_os 0.1.3",
+ "rand_os",
  "rand_pcg",
  "rand_xorshift 0.1.1",
  "winapi 0.3.8",
@@ -4034,7 +4106,7 @@ version = "0.1.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "556d3a1ca6600bfcbab7c7c91ccb085ac7fbbcd70e008a98742e7847f4f7bcef"
 dependencies = [
- "autocfg",
+ "autocfg 0.1.7",
  "rand_core 0.3.1",
 ]
 
@@ -4133,23 +4205,13 @@ dependencies = [
  "winapi 0.3.8",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "rand_os"
-version = "0.2.2"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "a788ae3edb696cfcba1c19bfd388cc4b8c21f8a408432b199c072825084da58a"
-dependencies = [
- "getrandom",
- "rand_core 0.5.1",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "rand_pcg"
 version = "0.1.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "abf9b09b01790cfe0364f52bf32995ea3c39f4d2dd011eac241d2914146d0b44"
 dependencies = [
- "autocfg",
+ "autocfg 0.1.7",
  "rand_core 0.4.2",
 ]
 
@@ -4171,35 +4233,26 @@ dependencies = [
  "rand_core 0.5.1",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "rand_xoshiro"
-version = "0.3.1"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "0e18c91676f670f6f0312764c759405f13afb98d5d73819840cf72a518487bff"
-dependencies = [
- "rand_core 0.5.1",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "rayon"
-version = "1.1.0"
+version = "1.3.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "a4b0186e22767d5b9738a05eab7c6ac90b15db17e5b5f9bd87976dd7d89a10a4"
+checksum = "db6ce3297f9c85e16621bb8cca38a06779ffc31bb8184e1be4bed2be4678a098"
 dependencies = [
- "crossbeam-deque 0.6.3",
+ "crossbeam-deque 0.7.3",
  "either",
  "rayon-core",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "rayon-core"
-version = "1.5.0"
+version = "1.7.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "ebbe0df8435ac0c397d467b6cad6d25543d06e8a019ef3f6af3c384597515bd2"
+checksum = "08a89b46efaf957e52b18062fb2f4660f8b8a4dde1807ca002690868ef2c85a9"
 dependencies = [
- "crossbeam-deque 0.6.3",
- "crossbeam-queue",
- "crossbeam-utils 0.6.6",
+ "crossbeam-deque 0.7.3",
+ "crossbeam-queue 0.2.1",
+ "crossbeam-utils 0.7.2",
  "lazy_static",
  "num_cpus",
 ]
@@ -5255,8 +5308,8 @@ version = "0.1.16"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "2bd2c6a3885302581f4401c82af70d792bb9df1700e7437b0aeb4ada94d5388c"
 dependencies = [
- "crossbeam-deque 0.7.1",
- "crossbeam-queue",
+ "crossbeam-deque 0.7.3",
+ "crossbeam-queue 0.1.2",
  "crossbeam-utils 0.6.6",
  "futures",
  "lazy_static",
@@ -5693,9 +5746,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "walkdir"
-version = "2.2.7"
+version = "2.3.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "9d9d7ed3431229a144296213105a390676cc49c9b6a72bd19f3176c98e129fa1"
+checksum = "777182bc735b6424e1a57516d35ed72cb8019d85c8c9bf536dccb3445c1a2f7d"
 dependencies = [
  "same-file",
  "winapi 0.3.8",
diff --git a/ethcore/executive-state/Cargo.toml b/ethcore/executive-state/Cargo.toml
index e1b5500b4..9c8006402 100644
--- a/ethcore/executive-state/Cargo.toml
+++ b/ethcore/executive-state/Cargo.toml
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ authors = ["Parity Technologies <admin@parity.io>"]
 edition = "2018"
 license = "GPL-3.0"
 
+[[bench]]
+name = "execution"
+harness = false
+
 [dependencies]
 account-db = { path = "../account-db" }
 account-state = { path = "../account-state" }
@@ -32,3 +36,9 @@ hex-literal = "0.2.1"
 spec = { path = "../spec" }
 trie-db = "0.20.0"
 ethtrie = { package = "patricia-trie-ethereum", path = "../../util/patricia-trie-ethereum" }
+# Benchmarks
+criterion = "0.3.1"
+ethcore-db = { path = "../db" }
+journaldb = { path = "../../util/journaldb" }
+state-db = { path = "../state-db" }
+tempdir = "0.3.7"
diff --git a/ethcore/executive-state/benches/8481475.rlp b/ethcore/executive-state/benches/8481475.rlp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ac41fd966
Binary files /dev/null and b/ethcore/executive-state/benches/8481475.rlp differ
diff --git a/ethcore/executive-state/benches/9532543.rlp b/ethcore/executive-state/benches/9532543.rlp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..df0da6cca
Binary files /dev/null and b/ethcore/executive-state/benches/9532543.rlp differ
diff --git a/ethcore/executive-state/benches/execution.rs b/ethcore/executive-state/benches/execution.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..56fe564ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ethcore/executive-state/benches/execution.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,150 @@
+// Copyright 2015-2020 Parity Technologies (UK) Ltd.
+// This file is part of Parity Ethereum.
+
+// Parity Ethereum is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+
+// Parity Ethereum 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 General Public License for more details.
+
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+// along with Parity Ethereum.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+//! Benchmark transaction execution of two blocks from mainnet, both of average
+//! size (~35kb as RLP), one with 229 transactions (#8481475, Constantinople era)
+//! and the other with 139 transactions (9532543, Istanbul era). Note that the
+//! benchmark here is almost completely CPU-bound and does not involve IO at all,
+//! so be careful not to draw too many conclusions from the results.
+
+use std::time::{Duration, Instant};
+use criterion::{Criterion, criterion_group, criterion_main};
+
+use account_state::{CleanupMode, State};
+use common_types::{
+	header::Header,
+	transaction::SignedTransaction,
+	verification::Unverified
+};
+use ethcore::test_helpers::new_temp_db;
+use ethcore_db as db;
+use ethereum_types::U256;
+use executive_state::ExecutiveState;
+use spec::{new_constantinople_test_machine, new_istanbul_test_machine};
+use state_db::StateDB;
+use tempdir::TempDir;
+
+fn build_state() -> State<StateDB> {
+	let db_path = TempDir::new("execution-bench").unwrap();
+	let db = new_temp_db(&db_path.path());
+	let journal_db = journaldb::new(db.key_value().clone(), journaldb::Algorithm::OverlayRecent, db::COL_STATE);
+	let state_db = StateDB::new(journal_db, 25 * 1024 * 1024);
+	State::new(state_db, U256::zero(), Default::default())
+}
+
+fn setup_state_for_block(state: &mut State<StateDB>, block: Unverified) -> Vec<SignedTransaction> {
+	block.transactions
+		.into_iter()
+		.map(|tx| tx.verify_unordered().expect("tx is from known-good block"))
+		.inspect(|tx| {
+			// Ensure we have enough cash to execute the transaction
+			let gas_cost = tx.gas * tx.gas_price;
+			state.add_balance(&tx.sender(), &(tx.value + gas_cost), CleanupMode::ForceCreate).unwrap();
+			// Fix up the nonce such that the state has the expected nonce
+			if state.nonce(&tx.sender()).unwrap() == U256::zero() {
+				for _ in 0..tx.nonce.as_usize() {
+					state.inc_nonce(&tx.sender()).unwrap();
+				}
+			}
+		})
+		.collect::<Vec<_>>()
+
+}
+fn build_env_info(header: &Header) -> vm::EnvInfo {
+	vm::EnvInfo {
+		number: header.number(),
+		author: *header.author(),
+		timestamp: header.timestamp(),
+		difficulty: *header.difficulty(),
+		gas_limit: *header.gas_limit() * 10,
+		last_hashes: std::sync::Arc::new(vec![]),
+		gas_used: *header.gas_used(),
+	}
+}
+
+macro_rules! bench_tx_apply {
+	($b: expr, $state: expr, $env_info: expr, $machine: expr, $signed_txs: expr, tracing => $tracing: expr ) => {
+		$b.iter_custom(|iters| {
+			let mut dur = Duration::new(0, 0);
+			for _ in 0..iters {
+				$state.checkpoint();
+				let start = Instant::now();
+				for tx in &$signed_txs {
+					let outcome = $state.apply(&$env_info, &$machine, tx, $tracing);
+					assert!(outcome.is_ok())
+				}
+				dur += start.elapsed();
+				$state.revert_to_checkpoint();
+			}
+			dur
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+fn execute_8481475(c: &mut Criterion) {
+	// Block from the Constantinople era; 202 transactions, 32k RLP
+	let constantinople_block = Unverified::from_rlp(include_bytes!("./8481475.rlp").to_vec()).unwrap();
+	let mut state = build_state();
+	let env_info = build_env_info(&constantinople_block.header);
+	let signed_txs = setup_state_for_block(&mut state, constantinople_block);
+
+	let machine = new_constantinople_test_machine();
+	c.bench_function("Block 8481475, apply txs (Costantinople, tracing)", |b| {
+		bench_tx_apply!(b, state, env_info, machine, signed_txs, tracing => true);
+	});
+
+	c.bench_function("Block 8481475, apply txs (Costantinople, no tracing)", |b| {
+		bench_tx_apply!(b, state, env_info, machine, signed_txs, tracing => false);
+	});
+
+	let machine = new_istanbul_test_machine();
+	c.bench_function("Block 8481475, apply txs (Istanbul, tracing)", |b| {
+		bench_tx_apply!(b, state, env_info, machine, signed_txs, tracing => true);
+	});
+
+	c.bench_function("Block 8481475, apply txs (Istanbul, no tracing)", |b| {
+		bench_tx_apply!(b, state, env_info, machine, signed_txs, tracing => false);
+	});
+}
+
+fn execute_9532543(c: &mut Criterion) {
+	// Block from the Istanbul era; 139 transactions, 38k RLP
+	let istanbul_block = Unverified::from_rlp(include_bytes!("./9532543.rlp").to_vec()).unwrap();
+	let mut state = build_state();
+	let env_info = build_env_info(&istanbul_block.header);
+	let signed_txs = setup_state_for_block(&mut state, istanbul_block);
+
+	let machine = new_constantinople_test_machine();
+	c.bench_function("Block 9532543, apply txs (Constantinople, tracing)", |b| {
+		bench_tx_apply!(b, state, env_info, machine, signed_txs, tracing => true);
+	});
+
+	c.bench_function("Block 9532543, apply txs (Constantinople, no tracing)", |b| {
+		bench_tx_apply!(b, state, env_info, machine, signed_txs, tracing => false);
+	});
+
+	let machine = new_istanbul_test_machine();
+	c.bench_function("Block 9532543, apply txs (Istanbul, tracing)", |b| {
+		bench_tx_apply!(b, state, env_info, machine, signed_txs, tracing => true);
+	});
+
+	c.bench_function("Block 9532543, apply txs (Istanbul, no tracing)", |b| {
+		bench_tx_apply!(b, state, env_info, machine, signed_txs, tracing => false);
+	});
+}
+
+criterion_group!(benches, execute_8481475, execute_9532543);
+criterion_main!(benches);