Plebscan is an experimental, read-only viewer for Bitcoin metaprotocol assets
(ordinals, runes, BRC-20, and alkanes),
found on addresses derived from your extended public key (xpub).
What’s an XPUB?
An extended public key (xpub / ypub / zpub / trpub) is a view-only key for one wallet account.
From it, software can derive that account’s public child keys and addresses (receive/change).
It cannot reveal any private keys or spend your coins.
By design, BIP-32 only allows public → public derivation at the account level; private keys stay inside your wallet.
Privacy note: An XPUB exposes all current & future addresses for that account.
Treat it as read-only but sensitive.
How Plebscan works
Enter your XPUB. If you don’t know it, follow the guide below.
Choose your derivation path: BIP-44, 49, 84, or 86.
Set “Max addresses to scan”. Limit is 200. The scanner stops early if it sees 20 empty addresses in a row (gap limit) and shows results.
Select network. Use Bitcoin (mainnet) unless you’re testing.
Chain. Leave as 0 (external/receive). (Advanced: change addresses live on chain 1.)
Scan. Plebscan derives addresses from your XPUB, gathers data from public indexers, and displays detected ordinals, runes, BRC-20, and alkanes in one place.
Why BIP-84 & BIP-86 most of the time?
BIP-84 (P2WPKH, bc1q...) — common for modern single-sig wallets; many users have funds here.
BIP-86 (Taproot, bc1p...) — most ordinals, runes, BRC-20, and alkanes activity uses Taproot, so scanning BIP-86 is essential.
Using 84 + 86 covers the vast majority of metaprotocol assets.
How to get your XPUB (Sparrow)
Download Sparrow from the official website.
Only use the official site. Never paste your seed into a browser page.
Open Sparrow → File → New Wallet. Give it a name.
Import your wallet (Xverse, UniSat, etc.). Choose “Use recovery phrase” and enter your 12/24 words.
If you used a BIP39 passphrase (25th word), turn on the passphrase toggle and enter it — without it you’ll get a different wallet.
Select Script Type = Taproot (P2TR). Sparrow auto-fills the derivation path as
m/86'/0'/0' (BIP-86, mainnet). Click Create Wallet.
Copy your BIP-86 XPUB. Go to the wallet’s Settings tab → Key Derivation →
Master XPUB (BIP-86). Click copy.
Use it in Plebscan. Paste the XPUB, choose BIP-86 (Taproot), keep chain = 0, select Mainnet, set max addresses, and scan.
Verify it’s the right account
In Sparrow, open the Receive tab and note the first address.
Plebscan should show the same first receive address for BIP-86 chain 0.
If it doesn’t match, re-check the script type/path or network.
Notes
If your funds are on older addresses (bc1q... P2WPKH), repeat the import but pick
Native SegWit (P2WPKH) → BIP-84 (m/84'/0'/0') and use that XPUB in Plebscan.
For hardware wallets (Ledger/Trezor), choose Connected Hardware Wallet and let Sparrow read the BIP-86 XPUB directly from the device.
Keep your seed and passphrase offline and private; Plebscan only needs the XPUB (view-only).
Privacy & data handling
Read-only. Plebscan never asks for private keys or seed phrases.
XPUB handling: Your XPUB is sent to the backend only to derive addresses for this scan.
We do not store or log XPUBs or derived addresses beyond the active request.
(If you do store anything, replace this line with the exact retention policy.)
Accuracy & sources
Results come from public indexers/APIs. Data may lag the chain briefly or differ across providers.
If something looks off, re-scan or verify in your wallet/block explorer.
Limitations & edge cases
Multisig (e.g., multi(...)) isn’t discoverable from a single XPUB — use a descriptor for those wallets.
Wrong account/path: if you choose a path you never used, you’ll see zero results.
Very large gaps: if you created hundreds of unused addresses, the 200 limit may miss far-out ones.
Non-standard exports: some wallets export ypub/zpub prefixes that don’t match the account you actually used — verify with the preview addresses.
Scope: single-sig accounts only; multisig or other accounts/paths require their own XPUB (or descriptor).
Plebscan is experimental, read-only software. Do not use results as the sole source of truth;
verify independently before taking action. Not financial or tax advice.