January 07, 2026
By Our Correspondent
River, a cryptocurrency infrastructure firm, said it has received a strategic investment from Maelstrom Fund, the vehicle founded by Arthur Hayes, co-founder of crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX.
The investment supports River’s long-term ambition to build what it describes as the first “chain-abstraction” stablecoin system, designed to allow assets to move seamlessly across blockchains without being locked, wrapped, or fragmented by individual networks.
The announcement comes amid strong market momentum for River’s native token. Ahead of the disclosure, the $RIVER token climbed to a record high of $20, with derivatives trading activity accelerating across major venues. Binance Perpetuals recorded more than $1.5 billion in 24-hour trading volume, underscoring heightened speculative and institutional interest.
River is currently integrated with more than 30 protocols spanning major blockchain ecosystems, including Ethereum, Base, and BNB Chain. Its system supports more than $300 million in total value locked, while its satUSD stablecoin has a circulating supply exceeding $100 million.
The company is positioning its platform as infrastructure that connects assets, yield, and liquidity across multiple chains, a growing focus area as investors seek to deploy capital more efficiently across fragmented blockchain networks.
