Our zero-fee DCA is among the most popular products we offer, and it’s also one that folks tend to have questions about. If you’re interested in learning more about what DCA is, why we offer our product without fees, and how you can set one up with River today, read our overview below.

TL;DR 👇

  • We offer this product without fees to build client relations with individuals and businesses.
  • Best case scenario for us is that those clients use our other products like hosted mining and brokerage, where we generate revenue.
  • Worst case scenario is that we onboarded a new Bitcoiner, which is good for Bitcoin and thus good for River.

What Is Dollar-Cost Averaging?

For those who might be unfamiliar with the term, “DCA” stands for dollar-cost averaging—an investment strategy in which an investor divides a total amount of capital to be invested into periodic purchases to avoid the stress of trying to time the market.

Generally, this is an automated process that takes place on a daily, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis. There are benefits and drawbacks associated with this strategy, but these are not the focus of this article; for a comprehensive overview of DCA in a Bitcoin context, click the link below.

Learn more about Dollar-Cost Averaging.

Why Zero Fees?

In a tweet thread addressing some feedback we received at the 2023 Bitcoin Conference in Miami, we noted that the zero-fee DCA product does not generate any revenue for us. The product is aligned with our mission to accelerate Bitcoin adoption.

Lowering the barrier to entry into Bitcoin by completely removing exchange fees means that this product can get more bitcoin into more people’s hands who might have been otherwise dissuaded.

Transparently, we believe that by building this costless, automated buy order into our existing wallet interface, we differentiate our wallet as the premier tool to build your bitcoin wealth. By offering a suite of additional products like hosted mining, our built-from-scratch brokerage, and private client services, we hope to earn clients’ trust and future business, too. In the best case, clients refer friends and family to River as the go-to destination for all things Bitcoin.

In the worst-case scenario for us, the client only uses the zero-fee DCA and no other products, but they have a favorable perception of River for helping to onboard them to Bitcoin. Ultimately, this is good for Bitcoin the network, and therefore, good for River!

Alex Leishman, our CEO, and co-founder, likes to call this product “Our version of Costco’s $1.50 Hotdog and Soda combo.” This is an appropriate analogy: as a business, we want to provide our clients with the best experience possible. If that means that we don’t make money on a product that enhances user experience and distributes bitcoin to more people, that’s fine with us.

Who Could Benefit From A Recurring Bitcoin Buy Order?

Those who are interested in gaining exposure to bitcoin, but who aren’t ready to move a significant portion of their net worth. Think of someone who isn’t on Bitcoin Twitter, who might be a conservative investor—they may be learning about Bitcoin for the first time, and might want a bit of exposure to “test the water.” Setting up a $20 weekly DCA would leave them with a balance of just over $1,000 of BTC after a year (assuming a constant price), which is an excellent introduction to the space.

An automated, costless recurring buy order is a perfect fit for someone who has already developed conviction in BTC and is looking to accumulate a position in the most cost-effective manner. By setting up a zero-fee DCA with River, you end up with more bitcoin as compared to a manual accumulation process where you would still be paying trading fees. You could even think of using this product as an alternative to 401(k) contributions.

Along those same lines, if an organization wanted to invest in bitcoin for itself—as a part of a treasury allocation—this would be a very simple way to do so. There are no limits as to who can use zero-fee DCA and no shortage of applicable use cases.

How to Set Up and Optimize Your Zero-Fee DCA Experience

Getting started with River is as easy as signing up, linking a bank account, setting up the recurring order, and you’re set! The entire process takes about 5 minutes within our web or mobile app.

After indicating that the order is recurring, you can set the frequency as desired by using the dropdown menu. Once you’ve set up your order, you can click the ```preview order``` button and be shown a summary of your order—note that recurring buy orders become “zero-fee” after seven days. Meaning that if you set up a weekly recurring buy, the second order and onward will be zero-fee.

We have also heard from clients that pairing the zero-fee DCA with our automatic withdrawal feature is an absolute game-changer. Combining these two products completely automates bitcoin accumulation and self-custody. With that said a few things to keep in mind here:

  • Set your withdrawal threshold to an amount of bitcoin you feel comfortable paying on-chain transaction fees for.
  • Consider updating your withdrawal address after each withdrawal; reusing bitcoin addresses ties all your on-chain activity together and reduces your privacy.
  • It is possible to update the automatic withdrawal and change things like the threshold amount, on-chain payout address, or even cancel the process completely if you wish.

DCAs, Withdrawals, and UTXO Management

Every so often we get asked how River manages UTXOs for users, which is a good question to ask!

Every on-chain Bitcoin withdrawal creates a new UTXO for a client in the amount they specify. A purchase or recurring order of bitcoin does not automatically create a new UTXO for the client.

In short: each withdrawal creates one UTXO (where the amount is specified by the client).

Conclusion

Zero-fee DCA is a way to set up recurring buy orders on a specified frequency that helps clients to passively gain exposure to, and accumulate bitcoin in a cost-minimizing manner. Plus, setting one up for yourself doesn’t take more than a few clicks.

Regardless of its revenue-generating capacity, we believe that offering a zero-fee DCA feature elevates our platform to a premier bitcoin accumulation destination.

If you are interested in setting up a zero-fee DCA for your River account, and you’d like some help doing so, please feel free to reach out to our Customer Support Team who can answer any questions you may have.