Alkimiya launches Bitcoin blockspace markets protocol to tackle fee volatility

Key Takeaways

• Alkimiya's new protocol allows for the trading of Bitcoin transaction fees to manage volatility.
• The protocol was developed by Anicca Research and is backed by major investors like Castle Island Ventures.

Alkimiya, a blockspace markets protocol, has introduced a new tool that enables users to trade Bitcoin transaction fees directly. This move comes as Bitcoin transaction fees continue to exhibit high volatility, with fees known to fluctuate between 20 to 500 times their value within a single week.

Leo Zhang, founder of Alkimiya Protocol, explained the rationale behind the tool:

“Through extensive research on the structural impact of various transactions on network fee rates, we concluded that trading transaction fees offers far more accurate exposure to the ecosystem’s fundamentals compared to trading Layer 1 tokens.”

Recent events in the Bitcoin ecosystem have highlighted fee volatility issues. In mid-April, following the Bitcoin Halving, a surge in Ordinals and Runes projects caused network fees to rise from $4.8 to $125 per transaction. In May, increased activity around the $DOG token saw fees increase from $2 to $7 per transaction.

The protocol potentially offers various uses for different participants in the crypto space. Collectors could use it to manage mint costs, while traders might use it to position themselves for anticipated network activity. Service providers, who have been vulnerable to sudden fee spikes, could use it as a hedging tool.

A recent incident underscores the potential relevance of such a tool. In June, a bug in OKX’s UTXO consolidation script resulted in fees increasing from $5.8 to $87.8 per transaction in a single day, leading to reported losses of approximately $18 million for the exchange.

Nic Carter, partner at Castle Island Ventures, an investor in Alkimiya, commented:

“Fee volatility is a lingering UX challenge for blockchain users, particularly on Bitcoin. As Bitcoin enters a regime of permanent congestion, consumers of blockspace can — for the first time — manage their exposure to fees via Alkimiya.”

For miners, the protocol presents a potential way to manage future fee revenues. This comes at a time when transaction fees have become a larger portion of miners’ income post-halving, with the fees-to-reward ratio reported to fluctuate between 3% and 300%.

Developed by Anicca Research, Alkimiya is currently operational on ETH mainnet and states plans to introduce ETH and L2 gas products in the future. The protocol has received backing from several venture capital firms in the crypto space.

Last year, Alkimiya secured $7.2 million in funding from a round led by 1kx and Castle Island Ventures, with participation from Dragonfly, Circle Ventures, and Coinbase Ventures.