diff --git a/.github/scripts/bench-reth-snapshot.sh b/.github/scripts/bench-reth-snapshot.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..67e7119df7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/scripts/bench-reth-snapshot.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# Downloads the latest nightly snapshot into the schelk volume with
+# progress reporting to the GitHub PR comment.
+#
+# Skips the download if the local ETag marker matches the remote one.
+#
+# Usage: bench-reth-snapshot.sh [--check]
+#   --check   Only check if a download is needed; exits 0 if up-to-date, 1 if not.
+#
+# Required env:
+#   SCHELK_MOUNT       – schelk mount point (e.g. /reth-bench)
+#   GITHUB_TOKEN       – token for GitHub API calls (only for download)
+#   BENCH_COMMENT_ID   – PR comment ID to update (optional)
+#   BENCH_REPO         – owner/repo (e.g. paradigmxyz/reth)
+#   BENCH_JOB_URL      – link to the Actions job
+#   BENCH_ACTOR        – user who triggered the benchmark
+#   BENCH_CONFIG       – config summary line
+set -euo pipefail
+
+BUCKET="minio/reth-snapshots/reth-1-minimal-nightly-previous.tar.zst"
+DATADIR="$SCHELK_MOUNT/datadir"
+ETAG_FILE="$HOME/.reth-bench-snapshot-etag"
+
+# Get remote metadata via JSON for reliable parsing
+MC_STAT=$(mc stat --json "$BUCKET" 2>/dev/null || true)
+REMOTE_ETAG=$(echo "$MC_STAT" | jq -r '.etag // empty')
+if [ -z "$REMOTE_ETAG" ]; then
+  echo "::warning::Failed to get ETag from mc stat, will re-download"
+  REMOTE_ETAG="unknown-$(date +%s)"
+fi
+
+LOCAL_ETAG=""
+[ -f "$ETAG_FILE" ] && LOCAL_ETAG=$(cat "$ETAG_FILE")
+
+if [ "$REMOTE_ETAG" = "$LOCAL_ETAG" ]; then
+  echo "Snapshot is up-to-date (ETag: ${REMOTE_ETAG})"
+  if [ "${1:-}" = "--check" ]; then
+    exit 0
+  fi
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+echo "Snapshot needs update (local: ${LOCAL_ETAG:-<none>}, remote: ${REMOTE_ETAG})"
+if [ "${1:-}" = "--check" ]; then
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# Get compressed size for progress tracking
+TOTAL_BYTES=$(echo "$MC_STAT" | jq -r '.size // empty')
+if [ -z "$TOTAL_BYTES" ] || [ "$TOTAL_BYTES" = "0" ]; then
+  echo "::error::Failed to get snapshot size from mc stat"
+  exit 1
+fi
+echo "Snapshot size: $TOTAL_BYTES bytes ($(numfmt --to=iec "$TOTAL_BYTES"))"
+
+# Prepare mount
+mountpoint -q "$SCHELK_MOUNT" && sudo schelk recover -y || true
+sudo schelk mount -y
+sudo rm -rf "$DATADIR"
+sudo mkdir -p "$DATADIR"
+
+update_comment() {
+  local pct="$1"
+  [ -z "${BENCH_COMMENT_ID:-}" ] && return 0
+  local status="Building binaries & downloading snapshot… ${pct}%"
+  local body
+  body="$(printf 'cc @%s\n\n🚀 Benchmark started! [View job](%s)\n\n⏳ **Status:** %s\n\n%s' \
+    "$BENCH_ACTOR" "$BENCH_JOB_URL" "$status" "$BENCH_CONFIG")"
+  curl -sf -X PATCH \
+    -H "Authorization: token ${GITHUB_TOKEN}" \
+    -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.v3+json" \
+    "https://api.github.com/repos/${BENCH_REPO}/issues/comments/${BENCH_COMMENT_ID}" \
+    -d "$(jq -nc --arg body "$body" '{body: $body}')" \
+    > /dev/null 2>&1 || true
+}
+
+# Track compressed bytes flowing through the pipe
+DL_BYTES_FILE=$(mktemp)
+echo 0 > "$DL_BYTES_FILE"
+
+# Start progress reporter in background
+(
+  while true; do
+    sleep 10
+    CURRENT=$(cat "$DL_BYTES_FILE" 2>/dev/null || echo 0)
+    if [ "$TOTAL_BYTES" -gt 0 ]; then
+      PCT=$(( CURRENT * 100 / TOTAL_BYTES ))
+      [ "$PCT" -gt 100 ] && PCT=100
+      echo "Snapshot download: $(numfmt --to=iec "$CURRENT") / $(numfmt --to=iec "$TOTAL_BYTES") (${PCT}%)"
+      update_comment "$PCT"
+    fi
+  done
+) &
+PROGRESS_PID=$!
+trap 'kill $PROGRESS_PID 2>/dev/null || true; rm -f "$DL_BYTES_FILE"' EXIT
+
+# Download and extract; python byte counter tracks compressed bytes received
+mc cat "$BUCKET" | python3 -c "
+import sys
+count = 0
+while True:
+    data = sys.stdin.buffer.read(1048576)
+    if not data:
+        break
+    count += len(data)
+    sys.stdout.buffer.write(data)
+    with open('$DL_BYTES_FILE', 'w') as f:
+        f.write(str(count))
+" | pzstd -d -p 6 | sudo tar -xf - -C "$DATADIR"
+
+# Stop progress reporter
+kill $PROGRESS_PID 2>/dev/null || true
+wait $PROGRESS_PID 2>/dev/null || true
+
+update_comment "100"
+echo "Snapshot download complete"
+
+# Sync the new snapshot as the schelk baseline
+sync
+sudo schelk recover -y
+
+# Save ETag marker
+echo "$REMOTE_ETAG" > "$ETAG_FILE"
+echo "Snapshot synced to schelk (ETag: ${REMOTE_ETAG})"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/bench.yml b/.github/workflows/bench.yml
index 4e7b5286c7..2f04eb9e2c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/bench.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/bench.yml
@@ -417,7 +417,7 @@ jobs:
           echo "$HOME/.local/bin" >> "$GITHUB_PATH"
           echo "$HOME/.cargo/bin" >> "$GITHUB_PATH"
           missing=()
-          for cmd in mc schelk cpupower taskset stdbuf python3 curl make uv; do
+          for cmd in mc schelk cpupower taskset stdbuf python3 curl make uv pzstd jq; do
             command -v "$cmd" &>/dev/null || missing+=("$cmd")
           done
           if [ ${#missing[@]} -gt 0 ]; then
@@ -474,6 +474,23 @@ jobs:
           echo "feature-ref=$FEATURE_REF" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           echo "feature-name=$FEATURE_NAME" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
+      - name: Check if snapshot needs update
+        id: snapshot-check
+        run: |
+          if .github/scripts/bench-reth-snapshot.sh --check; then
+            echo "needed=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          else
+            echo "needed=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          fi
+
+      - name: Update status (snapshot needed)
+        if: env.BENCH_COMMENT_ID && steps.snapshot-check.outputs.needed == 'true'
+        uses: actions/github-script@v7
+        with:
+          script: |
+            const s = require('./.github/scripts/bench-update-status.js');
+            await s({github, context, status: 'Building binaries & downloading snapshot...'});
+
       - name: Prepare source dirs
         run: |
           BASELINE_REF="${{ steps.refs.outputs.baseline-ref }}"
@@ -485,8 +502,12 @@ jobs:
           git -C ../reth-baseline checkout "$BASELINE_REF"
           ln -sfn "$(pwd)" ../reth-feature
 
-      - name: Build baseline and feature binaries in parallel
+      - name: Build binaries and download snapshot in parallel
         id: build
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          BENCH_REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
+          SNAPSHOT_NEEDED: ${{ steps.snapshot-check.outputs.needed }}
         run: |
           BASELINE_DIR="$(cd ../reth-baseline && pwd)"
           FEATURE_DIR="$(cd ../reth-feature && pwd)"
@@ -496,11 +517,18 @@ jobs:
           .github/scripts/bench-reth-build.sh feature "${FEATURE_DIR}" "${{ steps.refs.outputs.feature-ref }}" &
           PID_FEATURE=$!
 
+          PID_SNAPSHOT=
+          if [ "$SNAPSHOT_NEEDED" = "true" ]; then
+            .github/scripts/bench-reth-snapshot.sh &
+            PID_SNAPSHOT=$!
+          fi
+
           FAIL=0
           wait $PID_BASELINE || FAIL=1
           wait $PID_FEATURE || FAIL=1
+          [ -n "$PID_SNAPSHOT" ] && { wait $PID_SNAPSHOT || FAIL=1; }
           if [ $FAIL -ne 0 ]; then
-            echo "::error::One or both builds failed"
+            echo "::error::One or more parallel tasks failed (builds / snapshot download)"
             exit 1
           fi
 
@@ -710,7 +738,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           script: |
             const steps_status = [
-              ['building binaries', '${{ steps.build.outcome }}'],
+              ['building binaries${{ steps.snapshot-check.outputs.needed == 'true' && ' & downloading snapshot' || '' }}', '${{ steps.build.outcome }}'],
               ['running baseline benchmark', '${{ steps.run-baseline.outcome }}'],
               ['running feature benchmark', '${{ steps.run-feature.outcome }}'],
             ];