Runes family
Fungible tokens that live in transaction outputs rather than in inscriptions, tracked by their own indexes.
| Protocol | Chain | Creation operations | Released | Workspace |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alkanesalkane | Bitcoin | mint | Released | /alkanes |
| Mezcal | Bitcoin | etchminttransfer | Released, ungated | /mezcal |
| Runesrune | Bitcoin | etchminttransfer | Released, ungated | /runes |
The main protocol here. Etch a new rune, mint an open one, or split a balance across outputs.
An etch fixes the name, divisibility, premine and mint terms permanently. Read etch a rune before you do one.
Runes rounds fee rates to whole satoshis under some conditions, which is one reason the Normal and Fast tiers can show the same number. That is expected, not a fault.
Workspace: /runes. Released and ungated.
Mezcal
Section titled “Mezcal”The same three operations, etch, mint and transfer, written differently: Mezcal writes JSON records into OP_RETURN outputs instead of runestones, and it runs on its own index.
Two practical consequences:
- A name on Mezcal and the same name on Runes are different assets.
- Mezcal quotes its own service fee rather than the flat 1,500 satoshis. The confirmation screen shows the amount that applies.
Workspace: /mezcal. Released and ungated.
Alkanes
Section titled “Alkanes”Mint only. The registry records a mint operation for Alkanes and nothing else, so
Inscribe cannot etch or transfer one for you.
What the workspace does well is show you what is being contested: it ranks Alkane tokens by live mempool minting, so you can see demand as it happens, and lets you mint by ID.
Workspace: /alkanes. Released.
Runes (Native)
Section titled “Runes (Native)”The registry carries a separate Runes (Native) protocol with no inscribe surface at all. It appears in the main and wallet surfaces of Bitcoin Universe, and there is no way to create one in Inscribe.