Let's talk about the Alkanes protocol and its METHANE token!

Currently, the market cap is stuck at the $8 million threshold, which may be related to the characteristics of several development stages, quite interesting.

I think we can look at it from several aspects:

First, in terms of ecosystem development, it’s like building a house that has just completed its foundation. Right now, only the Oyl Wallet, this "dedicated steward", can operate assets smoothly. Familiar "property companies" like Okx, UniSat, and Magic Eden have yet to settle in the community, which is indeed inconvenient for new residents. However, I heard that their AMM and BTC staking, these "community facilities", are already being renovated, and once they are truly implemented, they might bring a wave of popularity.

Community operation is also quite challenging. Friends in the Chinese community are particularly active right now, but getting global players involved may take some time. You can see that their international social media discussion hasn’t really taken off yet; for instance, the voices on Twitter are relatively scattered. Moreover, they have their own DIESEL token, and the bidding mechanism for this "brother project" has attracted quite a few short-term players, which may have temporarily diverted some funds away from METHANE.

As for the broader environment, there is indeed a feeling of "off-season" in the Bitcoin ecosystem right now. In the past six months, a lot of liquidity has flowed to new business circles like Solana and Base, just like a shopping street suddenly becoming quiet, making it naturally harder for newly opened shops to break through.

What do you think? It's actually quite normal for early-stage projects to encounter a platform phase, just like getting stuck in a game and needing more skill points. If their team can deliver the smart contract functionality on time, and manage to integrate a few mainstream wallets along with some innovative gameplay (like combining BTC staking with token rights), maybe the next version update could open up new possibilities. After all, innovating protocols in the Bitcoin ecosystem holds a lot of potential in the long run, right?