币界网报道：Alkanes Protocol has introduced smart contract functionality on the Bitcoin network, marking a significant milestone in expanding Bitcoin's utility beyond simple transactions. The protocol enables developers to deploy decentralized applications (dApps) directly on Bitcoin, leveraging its security and decentralization while introducing programmable features traditionally associated with platforms like Ethereum. Alkanes achieves this through a novel layer-2 solution that processes smart contracts off-chain before settling the final state on Bitcoin's base layer, ensuring scalability without compromising security. The team behind Alkanes emphasizes that this development could unlock new use cases for Bitcoin, including decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and more complex financial instruments. Early tests show the protocol can handle thousands of transactions per second with minimal fees, addressing Bitcoin's long-standing scalability challenges. Several projects have already begun migrating to Alkanes, attracted by Bitcoin's robust network effects and the protocol's developer-friendly tools. Critics, however, question whether Bitcoin's conservative community will embrace this shift toward programmability, given historical resistance to changes perceived as altering Bitcoin's core value proposition. The Alkanes team plans to release a full suite of documentation and SDKs in the coming weeks to encourage broader adoption. This launch positions Bitcoin as a more direct competitor to smart contract platforms, potentially reshaping the blockchain landscape as developers gain access to Bitcoin's vast liquidity and user base for their applications.