New Bitcoin Ecosystem Asset Protocol Alkanes: First Token Surges Over 20x, A New Wealth Code for BTC
Preface
The Bitcoin community has long been exploring new narratives and paths for value growth — from Ordinals to Runes, and now Alkanes, forming a clear trajectory of innovation. In early 2023, the launch of the Ordinals inscription protocol sparked an NFT boom, followed by the BRC-20 inscription standard, which opened the era of token issuance on Bitcoin and pushed network fees to historic highs. Next came the Runes protocol, which leveraged the UTXO model to introduce a fungible token standard, fueling a second wave of interest in programmable assets. Now, Alkanes brings true programmability to Bitcoin Layer 1 (L1), enabling on-chain smart contracts without relying on sidechains or bridges. Though still in its early stage, the protocol has quickly gained significant attention.
Anyone following the Alkanes protocol is likely familiar with $METHANE. As the first fairly minted token under the Alkanes protocol, it has seen explosive growth. According to the latest on-chain data on April 21, the market cap of METHANE has exceeded $11 million, meaning each METHANE is worth over $110. Compared to the mint cost of $5 per token, the maximum return has already surpassed 20x, and that return is still climbing rapidly.
Looking at Alkanes today, we can clearly see the shadow of the early days of the Ordinals protocol in 2023. This similarity isn’t just technical — it’s rooted in community engagement and hype:
Both are new asset protocols within the Bitcoin ecosystem;
Both received strong support from the Chinese-speaking community — often from the same group of followers;
Both show organic community-led, non-officially driven growth logic;
Both sparked the spontaneous production of tutorials, tools, and wallet guides early on, creating strong grassroots participation;
Both have drawn attention and sparked controversy within the mainstream Bitcoin community.
In short, Alkanes is currently in a similar emotional cycle and user structure as early Ordinals. Veteran traders are returning in droves, and many new users are rapidly joining in. Everyone’s scrambling to claim positions and mint new assets — it feels like a return to the early Ordinals days, where a new narrative emerged every night and a new hotspot every week. The community buzz is intense, the storytelling is dense, and even though the protocol is still being polished, the “must do something, can’t miss out” FOMO atmosphere is in full swing once again with Alkanes.
About Alkanes
Alkanes is a decentralized protocol framework running on the Bitcoin mainnet. It leverages an open-source indexer (Metashrew) and WebAssembly (WASM) technology to introduce smart contract functionality to Bitcoin. By embedding .wasm.gz contract files into transactions, Alkanes enables a trustless on-chain asset view, allowing anyone to independently verify and execute contract logic.
Simply put, Alkanes enables a complete smart contract environment directly on Bitcoin L1. Contracts are written in Rust, compiled to WASM, and deployed in compressed format through witness reveal payloads, similar to how Ordinals inscriptions are published.
Key Differences Between Alkanes and Ordinals Protocols
The Alkanes protocol was originally designed with fungible asset applications in mind and is committed to enabling fully trustless smart contracts on Bitcoin.
The biggest difference from Ordinals is that Alkanes reshapes the protocol-level power structure — from a fixed model that only allows inscription, creation, sending, and receiving, to a system driven by core protocol components (like PSBTs or OP_CAT). These components allow users to build assets, develop smart contracts, and distribute them in multiple ways — enabling products like AMMs, lending platforms, and DeFi applications.
In simple terms, Alkanes offers high composability and flexibility, similar to the systems seen in Ethereum, Solana, or other smart contract platforms. In a sense, it functions as an “asset operating system” within Bitcoin. While it comes with a built-in structure for designing fungible tokens suitable for trading and other use cases, users can also develop their own NFT standards on Alkanes. This highly extensible design makes it far more than just a new asset protocol.
$METHANE: Flagship Token of the Airhead Protocol
As mentioned earlier, $METHANE is the first fairly minted token on the Alkanes protocol. Within just a few days, its trading volume has surpassed the combined total of the top 10 Runes tokens and has become the most widely held token within Alkanes. It is widely recognized as the flagship token of the Airhead Protocol.
According to the official AMA, $METHANE’s explosive growth took the Alkanes team by surprise. The token was created by Alkanes community members — not by the core team. However, Alkanes officials have stated that if the Methane community continues to grow at this pace, it could eventually become the largest meme community under the Alkanes protocol.
$DIESEL: The Official Token of Alkanes
In contrast to the red-hot METHANE, $DIESEL, the official token of the Alkanes protocol, remains relatively unknown. In the official AMA, the Alkanes team made it clear that DIESEL is the official token of the protocol, with 28% of its total supply pre-mined — some for community airdrops and some for liquidity provisioning.
The primary way to earn a DIESEL airdrop is by accumulating XP. Users can gain XP daily by purchasing and depositing Airhead into the Oyl wallet. The more Airhead stored, the more XP earned (ranging from 299 to 888 XP per day). Users can also transfer assets (e.g., 1 BTC = 100,000 XP) to Oyl or purchase a limited Whale Pass (555 total) to earn XP.
DIESEL can only be minted once per block. Currently, it can be minted using tools like Rebar or by paying a high gas fee. In the future, as DIESEL’s value rises, mining pools will be incentivized to prioritize minting, making it difficult for ordinary users to access directly. Therefore, a portion of the supply was pre-mined to reward early community participants instead of allowing miners to monopolize it.
DIESEL is designed to mirror Bitcoin’s economic model and is built with post-quantum security in mind. It may eventually be acquired through secondary markets or partnerships with miners.
Conclusion
At present, the Alkanes protocol is still in its very early stage, and major wallets have yet to support its assets. Although the team confirmed that they have held talks with OKX Wallet, nothing has materialized. Therefore, Oyl Wallet is recommended for interacting with Alkanes assets to ensure security.
Looking back at the recent buzz, the birth of Alkanes represents not only a technical breakthrough in the Bitcoin ecosystem but also a renewed outpouring of community consensus and innovation energy. It inherits the asset issuance logic of Ordinals and Runes but goes even further — enabling true smart contracts directly on the Bitcoin mainnet.
From $METHANE to $DIESEL, we are witnessing the emergence of a vibrant new asset system, signaling the dawn of a new era of native programmable assets within the Bitcoin ecosystem.
