diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b9fccf29c4..8c31d55fb7 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@
 ## [Unreleased]
 
 ### Fixed
-- **DebugMetrics**: Fixed a `ClassCastException` occurring in `DebugMetrics` when handling nested metric structures. Previously, `Double` values within these structures were incorrectly cast to `Map` objects, leading to errors. This update allows for proper handling of both direct values and nested structures at the same level. Issue# [#7383]
+- **DebugMetrics**: Fixed a `ClassCastException` occurring in `DebugMetrics` when handling nested metric structures. Previously, `Double` values within these structures were incorrectly cast to `Map` objects, leading to errors. This update allows for proper handling of both direct values and nested structures at the same level. Issue# [#7383](https://github.com/hyperledger/besu/pull/7383)
+- `evmtool` was not respecting the `--genesis` setting, resulting in unexpected trace results. [#7433](https://github.com/hyperledger/besu/pull/7433)
 
 ### Tests
 - Added a comprehensive test case to reproduce the bug and verify the fix for the `ClassCastException` in `DebugMetrics`. This ensures that complex, dynamically nested metric structures can be handled without errors.
diff --git a/datatypes/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/datatypes/HardforkId.java b/datatypes/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/datatypes/HardforkId.java
index 73eaddb7ca..85ec84b4ad 100644
--- a/datatypes/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/datatypes/HardforkId.java
+++ b/datatypes/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/datatypes/HardforkId.java
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@
  */
 package org.hyperledger.besu.datatypes;
 
+import java.util.Comparator;
+import java.util.stream.Stream;
+
 /** Description and metadata for a hard fork */
 public interface HardforkId {
 
@@ -112,6 +115,19 @@ public interface HardforkId {
     public String description() {
       return description;
     }
+
+    /**
+     * The most recent finalized mainnet hardfork Besu supports. This will change across versions
+     * and will be updated after mainnet activations.
+     *
+     * @return the most recently activated mainnet spec.
+     */
+    public static MainnetHardforkId mostRecent() {
+      return Stream.of(MainnetHardforkId.values())
+          .filter(MainnetHardforkId::finalized)
+          .max(Comparator.naturalOrder())
+          .orElseThrow();
+    }
   }
 
   /** List of all Ethereum Classic hard forks. */
diff --git a/ethereum/core/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/core/BlockHeader.java b/ethereum/core/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/core/BlockHeader.java
index 46d2f0847a..42f99fafb6 100644
--- a/ethereum/core/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/core/BlockHeader.java
+++ b/ethereum/core/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/core/BlockHeader.java
@@ -158,22 +158,23 @@ public class BlockHeader extends SealableBlockHeader
     out.writeBytes(extraData);
     out.writeBytes(mixHashOrPrevRandao);
     out.writeLong(nonce);
-    if (baseFee != null) {
+    do {
+      if (baseFee == null) break;
       out.writeUInt256Scalar(baseFee);
-    }
-    if (withdrawalsRoot != null) {
+
+      if (withdrawalsRoot == null) break;
       out.writeBytes(withdrawalsRoot);
-    }
-    if (excessBlobGas != null && blobGasUsed != null) {
+
+      if (excessBlobGas == null || blobGasUsed == null) break;
       out.writeLongScalar(blobGasUsed);
       out.writeUInt64Scalar(excessBlobGas);
-    }
-    if (parentBeaconBlockRoot != null) {
+
+      if (parentBeaconBlockRoot == null) break;
       out.writeBytes(parentBeaconBlockRoot);
-    }
-    if (requestsRoot != null) {
+
+      if (requestsRoot == null) break;
       out.writeBytes(requestsRoot);
-    }
+    } while (false);
     out.endList();
   }
 
diff --git a/ethereum/evmtool/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/evmtool/EvmToolCommand.java b/ethereum/evmtool/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/evmtool/EvmToolCommand.java
index 06ee967620..f9d7c0db47 100644
--- a/ethereum/evmtool/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/evmtool/EvmToolCommand.java
+++ b/ethereum/evmtool/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/evmtool/EvmToolCommand.java
@@ -478,7 +478,14 @@ public class EvmToolCommand implements Runnable {
                 .mixHash(Hash.ZERO)
                 .nonce(0)
                 .blockHeaderFunctions(new MainnetBlockHeaderFunctions())
-                .baseFee(component.getBlockchain().getChainHeadHeader().getBaseFee().orElse(null))
+                .baseFee(
+                    component
+                        .getBlockchain()
+                        .getChainHeadHeader()
+                        .getBaseFee()
+                        .or(() -> genesisFileModule.providesGenesisConfigFile().getBaseFeePerGas())
+                        .orElse(
+                            protocolSpec.getFeeMarket().implementsBaseFee() ? Wei.of(0xa) : null))
                 .buildBlockHeader();
 
         Address contractAddress =
@@ -519,13 +526,12 @@ public class EvmToolCommand implements Runnable {
               lastTime = stopwatch.elapsed().toNanos();
             }
             if (lastLoop) {
-              if (messageFrame.getExceptionalHaltReason().isPresent()) {
-                out.println(messageFrame.getExceptionalHaltReason().get());
-              }
-              if (messageFrame.getRevertReason().isPresent()) {
-                out.println(
-                    new String(messageFrame.getRevertReason().get().toArrayUnsafe(), UTF_8));
-              }
+              messageFrame
+                  .getExceptionalHaltReason()
+                  .ifPresent(haltReason -> out.println(haltReason));
+              messageFrame
+                  .getRevertReason()
+                  .ifPresent(bytes -> out.println(new String(bytes.toArrayUnsafe(), UTF_8)));
             }
           }
         }
@@ -572,7 +578,7 @@ public class EvmToolCommand implements Runnable {
     out.println("{");
     worldState
         .streamAccounts(Bytes32.ZERO, Integer.MAX_VALUE)
-        .sorted(Comparator.comparing(o -> o.getAddress().get().toHexString()))
+        .sorted(Comparator.comparing(o -> o.getAddress().orElse(Address.ZERO).toHexString()))
         .forEach(
             a -> {
               var account = worldState.get(a.getAddress().get());
@@ -585,7 +591,7 @@ public class EvmToolCommand implements Runnable {
                       .map(
                           e ->
                               Map.entry(
-                                  e.getKey().get(),
+                                  e.getKey().orElse(UInt256.ZERO),
                                   account.getStorageValue(UInt256.fromBytes(e.getKey().get()))))
                       .filter(e -> !e.getValue().isZero())
                       .sorted(Map.Entry.comparingByKey())
diff --git a/ethereum/evmtool/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/evmtool/GenesisFileModule.java b/ethereum/evmtool/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/evmtool/GenesisFileModule.java
index 6eae387a64..8512b5537e 100644
--- a/ethereum/evmtool/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/evmtool/GenesisFileModule.java
+++ b/ethereum/evmtool/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/evmtool/GenesisFileModule.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import org.hyperledger.besu.cli.config.EthNetworkConfig;
 import org.hyperledger.besu.cli.config.NetworkName;
 import org.hyperledger.besu.config.GenesisConfigFile;
 import org.hyperledger.besu.config.GenesisConfigOptions;
+import org.hyperledger.besu.datatypes.HardforkId.MainnetHardforkId;
 import org.hyperledger.besu.ethereum.chain.GenesisState;
 import org.hyperledger.besu.ethereum.core.Block;
 import org.hyperledger.besu.ethereum.core.BlockHeaderFunctions;
@@ -28,6 +29,7 @@ import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.util.Locale;
 import java.util.Optional;
 import javax.inject.Named;
 import javax.inject.Singleton;
@@ -116,7 +118,7 @@ public class GenesisFileModule {
     final JsonObject config = new JsonObject();
     genesis.put("config", config);
     config.put("chainId", 1337);
-    config.put("londonBlock", 0);
+    config.put(MainnetHardforkId.mostRecent().toString().toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT) + "Time", 0);
     genesis.put("baseFeePerGas", "0x3b9aca00");
     genesis.put("gasLimit", "0x2540be400");
     genesis.put("difficulty", "0x0");
diff --git a/ethereum/evmtool/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/evmtool/MainnetGenesisFileModule.java b/ethereum/evmtool/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/evmtool/MainnetGenesisFileModule.java
index e36668f47c..0ce7bf98f5 100644
--- a/ethereum/evmtool/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/evmtool/MainnetGenesisFileModule.java
+++ b/ethereum/evmtool/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/evmtool/MainnetGenesisFileModule.java
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ import org.hyperledger.besu.ethereum.mainnet.MainnetProtocolSchedule;
 import org.hyperledger.besu.ethereum.mainnet.ProtocolSchedule;
 import org.hyperledger.besu.ethereum.mainnet.ProtocolScheduleBuilder;
 import org.hyperledger.besu.ethereum.mainnet.ProtocolSpecAdapters;
-import org.hyperledger.besu.evm.EvmSpecVersion;
 import org.hyperledger.besu.evm.internal.EvmConfiguration;
 import org.hyperledger.besu.metrics.noop.NoOpMetricsSystem;
 
@@ -71,13 +70,12 @@ class MainnetGenesisFileModule extends GenesisFileModule {
       }
     }
 
-    var schedules = createSchedules(configOptions.getChainId().orElse(BigInteger.valueOf(1337)));
-    var schedule =
-        schedules.get(
-            fork.orElse(EvmSpecVersion.defaultVersion().getName())
-                .toLowerCase(Locale.getDefault()));
-    if (schedule != null) {
-      return schedule.get();
+    if (fork.isPresent()) {
+      var schedules = createSchedules(configOptions.getChainId().orElse(BigInteger.valueOf(1337)));
+      var schedule = schedules.get(fork.get().toLowerCase(Locale.getDefault()));
+      if (schedule != null) {
+        return schedule.get();
+      }
     }
 
     return MainnetProtocolSchedule.fromConfig(