River

River Financial is a U.S.-based, Bitcoin-only brokerage founded in 2019 by Alexander Leishman and Andrew Benson. Headquartered in San Francisco, it positions itself as a high-touch, client-first platform that combines a traditional private-banking feel with modern Bitcoin rails. Users can buy, sell, and custody BTC, set up recurring purchases, and even mine Bitcoin through River’s hosted mining program. The company also operates River Lightning Services, an API that lets businesses integrate Lightning Network payments. Regulation and compliance are core to River’s pitch: it is a registered Money Services Business (MSB) with FinCEN and maintains individual money-transmitter licenses (or statutory exemptions) in nearly every U.S. state. Customer USD balances are held in a partner bank with FDIC insurance up to applicable limits, while Bitcoin is stored in institutional-grade, multi-sig cold storage under SOC-2 controls. River currently serves U.S. residents (excluding a handful of restricted states) and emphasizes strong customer support, low-latency ACH funding, and detailed tax documentation to appeal to both retail and high-net-worth Bitcoin investors.