Protocol data
Live metrics for subfrost and the Alkanes metaprotocol on Bitcoin L1, updated daily from the chain.
Alkanes on-chain activity
291,226,267 transactions sampled from Jan 20 to Sep 12
Based on sampled blocks, not a full-chain count. Everything is open source (MIT): alkanes-opreturn-decoder, alkanes-opreturn-scanner, and the daily data.
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Share of all Bitcoin transactions that are Alkanes, next to the share that carry any OP_RETURN. The two move closely together.
Over the last 30 days, Alkanes made up 97.1% of OP_RETURN transactions and 93.4% of OP_RETURN bytes.
Alkanes used 17.2% of block weight over the full period and 49.8% on the latest day. That's well below their share of transactions, since most are small DIESEL mints.
Alkanes rank high by transaction count because DIESEL mints are numerous and small. By block weight and fees, their share is much lower.
DIESEL mints only, not other Alkanes activity.
Estimated mints per day, on a log scale. Minting took off in August and September 2025 and peaked near 551,346 a day.
Split into mints that came with a DIESEL mint and independent ones. Raw counts from sampled blocks.
Alkanes have overtaken non-Alkanes Runes in OP_RETURN bytes.
Estimated bytes per day, on a log scale.
Daily split of OP_RETURN bytes between Alkanes, other Runes, and everything else.
Runes led when DIESEL launched. Alkanes are now the large majority of Runestone transactions.
Estimated transactions per day, on a log scale.
All OP_RETURN data since block 880,000 (Jan 20, 2025), by bytes. Alkanes sit inside Runestones, so Alkanes plus Other Runes make up all Runestones. The Alkanes share is a lower bound because Runestone envelope bytes count as Other Runes.
Fees only, split between Alkanes transactions and everything else. Unlike the fixed 3.125 BTC subsidy, fees grow with on-chain activity.
Alkanes paid 12.1% of miner fees over the last 30 days (4.6% over the full period). All OP_RETURN transactions together paid 16.0% (9.2% over the full period).
Each day the scanner reads a sample of Bitcoin blocks and checks every transaction output. An output script starting with 6a is an OP_RETURN, and one starting with 6a5d is a Runestone.
A transaction counts as Alkanes when its Runestone holds a protostone with protocol_tag = 1. DIESEL mints, which make up most Alkanes activity today, are the ones whose cellpack targets 2:0 with opcode 77.
Shares are ratios within the sample, so sampling doesn't skew them. Each day draws on dozens of blocks, and daily totals are estimated by scaling the sample up to a full 144-block day. Classification uses the open-source alkanes-opreturn-decoder, and block weight comes from a metashrew/alkanes-rs indexer.
- OP_RETURN penetration
- Share of all Bitcoin transactions with an OP_RETURN output.
- Runes (non-Alkanes)
- Runestones without an Alkanes protostone.
- DIESEL mint
- A call to the genesis alkane (cellpack 2:0, opcode 77).
- Block weight
- The unit Bitcoin's block size limit is measured in.
- Fee share
- Fees only. The 3.125 BTC block subsidy is excluded.