Today, I’m excited to announce the launch of free monthly on-chain withdrawals at River! Our mission is to champion an honest and robust financial system through the adoption of Bitcoin. We strive to make it easier, cheaper, and safer for you to build and secure your Bitcoin wealth–be it in a River account or self-custody wallet.

With the launch of free monthly on-chain withdrawals, we’ve rounded out what I believe is the ideal trifecta for self-custody:

  1. Buy Bitcoin with zero-fee recurring orders
  2. Set up an automatic withdrawal to self-custody
  3. Enjoy zero fees for one withdrawal each month

See our step-by-step guide on River’s Help Center to learn how to make use of free withdrawals. We also have guides for automatic withdrawals and zero-fee recurring orders.

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Why build for self-custody?

We sometimes get asked why we’re encouraging self-custody when River is already a custodial wallet. The answer is simple: we are Bitcoiners at heart and the thesis behind River has always embraced Bitcoin’s core principles, especially self-custody. 

Five years ago, I set out to build the most secure wallet for individuals and businesses to confidently hold Bitcoin over the long term. This is why at River we built our cold storage infrastructure in-house from the ground up and with 100% full reserve custody. It’s why we prioritize risk management above all else, and why we instill a deep culture of security across the entire team from Engineering to Client Services. We are hyper-focused on securing one asset, the greatest asset – Bitcoin – and doing that exceptionally well.

While my background is in security engineering and cryptography, my ideology is that of a Bitcoiner and what Bitcoin stands for: sound money, decentralization, and perhaps most importantly, self-sovereignty. You have the right to hold and access your own wealth, and in this case, your own keys.

While River’s business enables you to custody Bitcoin confidently in your account, we will also forever encourage self-custody. Stack sats, auto-withdraw, and self-custody all with zero fees on River.

Alex Leishman
River CEO and Bitcoiner