Arthur Hayes’ Maelstrom Invests in River, RIVER Token Up Over 90%

Arthur Hayes’ family office, Maelstrom, has made a strategic investment in River, drawing attention in the crypto space. Around the same time, the RIVER token surged more than 90% within hours, fueling speculation and interest.

Data from CoinGecko showed RIVER trading above $24 at the time of writing. The price movement lifted River’s market capitalization to roughly $470 million, reflecting strong demand and heightened market activity.

RIVER Sees Rapid Growth Across Exchanges

RIVER’s circulating supply currently stands at about 19.6 million tokens. The project has set both its total supply and maximum supply at 100 million tokens, ensuring a capped issuance structure.

The token is available on both centralized and decentralized exchanges. Bitget has been the most active venue, with the RIVER/USDT pair recording over $9.5 million in trading volume in the past 24 hours. Other platforms supporting RIVER include PancakeSwap V3 on BNB Chain and DigiFinex.

Over the past seven days, RIVER has climbed nearly 360%, significantly outperforming the broader crypto market, which gained only 7.8% during the same period.

The token also outpaced other BNB Chain ecosystem assets, which showed little to no change over the week. River’s performance highlights strong market activity and growing attention toward its platform.

Maelstrom Supports River’s Ecosystem Expansion

In a post on X, River confirmed the investment from Maelstrom. The team said the funding will support further development and expansion of its ecosystem across digital assets.

River described its core focus as building a chain abstraction stablecoin system. The system aims to allow value to move across multiple ecosystems without being locked on a single network.

River secured a strategic investment from @MaelstromFund, founded by Arthur Hayes @CryptoHayes

We are building the first chain-abstraction stablecoin system, designed to connect every asset to its opportunity and allow value to flow freely across ecosystems, with capital never… pic.twitter.com/DZ6xWIF5oz

— River (@RiverdotInc) January 5, 2026

Seamless Asset Deposits Across Networks

According to the project’s whitepaper, River is powered by satUSD, an omni CDP stablecoin. The system allows users to access, leverage, and scale positions across different ecosystems in a native, seamless manner.

At the center of the protocol is the Omni CDP module, built on LayerZero’s OFT standard. It supports cross-chain collateralization without using traditional bridging methods.

Users can deposit assets such as BTC, ETH, BNB, or liquid staking tokens on one chain. They can then mint satUSD directly on another chain without relying on wrappers or synthetic assets.

The protocol also allows direct swaps from USDT, USDC, or USD1 into satUSD at a one-to-one ratio. This design simplifies stablecoin access across supported networks, reducing friction for users.

River includes a yield-focused module built around satUSD and its yield-bearing variant, satUSD plus. Staking satUSD provides exposure to protocol revenue through a structured, yield-bearing token.

The project also runs smart vaults that accept BTC or ETH deposits. These vaults deploy capital across DeFi and CeDeFi strategies while mitigating liquidation risk for participants.

Community and Rewards

River’s River4FUN component acts as a contribution and engagement layer. Users can stake tokens, link their X accounts, and earn River Points through posting, referrals, and voting.

River Points are designed to measure participation and governance involvement. The system converts social activity into on-chain participation signals, linking community engagement to protocol influence.

The platform also offers Smart Vaults for assets such as USDT, BTC, and ETH. Funds in these vaults are deployed across multiple strategies while minting satUSD for staking within the protocol.

For institutional users, River has introduced Prime Vault. The product integrates with regulated custodians and listed company partners, allowing institutional participants to maintain compliance while accessing stablecoin-based yield.

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