- SUBFROST data indicates that activity associated with the Asian market drove 61% of Bitcoin transactions over a 90-day period.
- Alkanes activity was largely tied to DIESEL mints, with 99.7% of UNCOMMON•GOODS Runes mints in the measured window also recorded as DIESEL mints.
- Alkanes uses Bitcoin transactions and Runes-format runestones while relying on a separate indexer to execute WebAssembly contract calls.
SUBFROST data links Bitcoin transaction surge to Alkanes activity
SUBFROST’s data points to strong participation from Chinese-speaking users and the broader Asian market in Alkanes activity on Bitcoin. The company publishes daily on-chain traffic figures under an MIT license, with live charts available at subfrost.io/metrics and the underlying data series hosted on GitHub.
According to the figures, Asian-market activity accounted for 61% of Bitcoin transactions during a 90-day period. SUBFROST classifies a transaction as an Alkanes transaction when an OP_RETURN runestone contains a protostone carrying protocol tag 1.
The protocol’s visibility in China has also expanded through its local-language materials and events. SUBFROST publishes complete Chinese documentation and a Chinese metrics page, operates an official Chinese-language Telegram channel for DIESEL, and held a workshop in China this year. The company also placed Lee and RWP IV on a China event stage and operated a booth at Bitcoin Asia in Hong Kong.
DIESEL mints accounted for most Alkanes activity
In a press release shared with Bitcoin Magazine, SUBFROST said that 99.7% of UNCOMMON•GOODS Runes mints during the measured period were also DIESEL mints. The company linked the activity to the emission function on Alkanes’ genesis contract.
In a July explainer, SUBFROST wrote that “almost all of this Alkanes activity is one operation, the DIESEL mint.” The structure effectively places one token-related operation on top of another, with DIESEL activity using the Alkanes framework.
Alkanes launched at Bitcoin block 880,000 on Jan. 20, 2025, when the DIESEL contract was deployed. The protocol was built at Oyl Corp. Oyl said in January 2026 that it was winding down operations and that SUBFROST would take the lead on protocol maintenance.
Why Alkanes activity was counted as Runes
Alkanes does not modify Bitcoin’s consensus rules and does not operate as a sidechain. Its contract code is written in WebAssembly and deployed once in witness data. Subsequent users submit function calls within a Runes-format runestone, while the separate Metashrew indexer executes those calls.
Bitcoin full nodes confirm the underlying transactions but do not validate Alkanes balances. Because Alkanes activity is wrapped in the Runes transaction format, the same transactions appeared in network data as Runes activity in June.
That distinction helps explain why several reports attributed a rise in Bitcoin network activity to Runes without naming Alkanes. CryptoQuant reported that Bitcoin activity had reached its highest level since late 2024, with daily transactions exceeding 800,000, and connected the increase in OP_RETURN usage to Runes, Ordinals and BRC-20. Bitcoin Magazine carried that analysis on June 22.
CoinDesk, citing Glassnode, reported that daily transactions had surpassed 820,000, including more than 600,000 runestones, and attributed the increase to Runes. Neither report identified Alkanes as a separate source of the activity.
Independent tracking reinforces the scale of the protocol’s footprint
Renaud Cuny, who writes Bitcoin Block Space Weekly and tracks BIP-110, separately calculated that Alkanes protostones represented 91% of OP_RETURN outputs over a 60-day period.
The separate measurements provide additional context for the transaction surge: activity that appeared at the Bitcoin network level as Runes or OP_RETURN usage may also have involved Alkanes protostones and DIESEL mint operations.
Why This Matters
The data highlights how Bitcoin protocols can generate substantial on-chain activity without changing Bitcoin consensus or operating a separate blockchain. Alkanes uses Bitcoin for transaction confirmation, while execution and balance interpretation are handled by the Metashrew indexer. Its Runes-format wrapper also means that network-wide activity reports may not identify the underlying Alkanes operations.
The protocol’s growing presence in Chinese-language channels, events in China and Hong Kong, and the transition of maintenance leadership from Oyl Corp. to SUBFROST are important developments for its continued operation. The available data also shows that DIESEL minting was the dominant component of measured Alkanes activity.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does SUBFROST count as an Alkanes transaction?
SUBFROST counts a transaction as an Alkanes transaction when an OP_RETURN runestone contains a protostone with protocol tag 1.
Does Alkanes change Bitcoin’s consensus rules?
No. Alkanes does not change Bitcoin consensus and does not operate as a sidechain. Bitcoin full nodes confirm the transactions, while the Metashrew indexer executes Alkanes function calls and interprets balances.
What was the main source of Alkanes activity?
SUBFROST said that 99.7% of UNCOMMON•GOODS Runes mints in the measured window were also DIESEL mints. The company wrote that “almost all of this Alkanes activity is one operation, the DIESEL mint.”