River Financial Inc. is a Delaware corporation. Its Form D filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on 18 February 2021 gives 2019 as the year of incorporation, lists Alexander Leishman and Andrew Benson as its executive officers and directors, and reports $17.3 million sold in that offering. The company's business address on the filing is in San Francisco, and its site carries NMLS ID 1906809.
Leishman states the founding intent in his own words on the company's about page: "I founded River in 2019 to build the bitcoin bank of the world." The page describes him as Founder, CEO and CTO.
What River actually sells is narrow on purpose. Customers buy and sell bitcoin, set up recurring buys, hold a cash balance, send and receive over Lightning, and withdraw to their own wallets. There is no menu of other assets. That is the trade the company is making: a single asset, and therefore a single set of operational risks, in exchange for giving up the revenue that comes from listing everything.
Two things distinguish it from a plain brokerage. River publishes a proof of reserves, which lets a customer check that the coins backing their balance exist on chain, and it publishes financials. Neither is a guarantee. A proof of reserves shows assets at a point in time and says nothing about liabilities the company has not disclosed, so it narrows the question rather than answering it.
Custody remains the underlying tradeoff. Coins held at River are held by River. The company's own product line points at the exit, since a customer can withdraw to a wallet they control, but until they do, they hold a claim rather than keys.
Listing here is not endorsement, and the interest rate, fee and product details on River's site move. Check them there rather than here.