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River AMA
2630 sats \ 34 comments \ @SachinMeier 13 Oct 2023 bitcoin
Ask the River team anything you want to know about Lightning, Bitcoin, or seed oils.
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250 sats \ 1 reply \ @Rsync25 13 Oct 2023
River have plans in make non KYC products beyond APIs?
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @SachinMeier OP 13 Oct 2023
Unfortunately, we probably won't be able to provide a fully non-KYC product due to legal reasons.
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184 sats \ 2 replies \ @nuII 13 Oct 2023
Any improvements on the horizon for the "Learn" section of your website or is the team pretty satisfied with it as is?
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @SachinMeier OP 13 Oct 2023
We are actively improving Learn. If you have any articles you'd like to see, terms you'd like added to the glossary, or other ways we can improve, let me know!
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @SachinMeier OP 13 Oct 2023
We have many terms, especially Taproot, Taro, and recent SoftFork proposal related terms, to add to the glossary.
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148 sats \ 2 replies \ @birdeye21 13 Oct 2023
Can you break down River’s full seed oil policy? Will be the best way for me to make sure bitcoiners are in good hands with River
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397 sats \ 1 reply \ @SachinMeier OP 13 Oct 2023
Great Question. River has a strong corporate culture of avoiding seed oils, but we also believe in individual autonomy, so we don't restrict our employee's diets.
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61 sats \ 0 replies \ @birdeye21 13 Oct 2023
Excellent. Very bullish
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138 sats \ 1 reply \ @DarthCoin 13 Oct 2023
Why there are quite many people (especially bitcoiners) that do not like LN and even hate LN? see the denial have many people at BM conference
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160 sats \ 0 replies \ @SachinMeier OP 13 Oct 2023
The same tendencies that keep people away from bitcoin keep some bitcoiners away from LN.
  • LN advocates oversell Lightning as infinitely scalable and problem free today.
  • Skeptics are impatient for mass adoption and declare new tech dead early, just because it hasn't taken off as fast as they expected.
  • LN incentives are more inclined to centralization than Bitcoin's.
  • Some may worry that LN will undercut Bitcoin's security budget.
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92 sats \ 1 reply \ @WeAreAllSatoshi 13 Oct 2023
Hopefully running this AMA at the same time as a round table doesn’t detract from each other
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @SachinMeier OP 13 Oct 2023
Yeah, that was a mistake on my part :)
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92 sats \ 1 reply \ @nout 13 Oct 2023
On a scale from 0 to 10, how hard are you getting regulated?
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165 sats \ 0 replies \ @SachinMeier OP 13 Oct 2023
Not selling shitcoins (securities) is a pretty big advantage for helping to avoid regulation. The SEC is much more "active" than the CFTC.
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53 sats \ 4 replies \ @cryotosensei 13 Oct 2023
What differentiates you from your competitors like Swan Bitcoin?
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55 sats \ 3 replies \ @SachinMeier OP 13 Oct 2023
Great question. We are quite different both in the features we offer and how we operate the business:
  1. River operates our own custody infrastructure and has our own licenses which allow us to custody client funds. Swan outsources their custody and licensing (previously to Prime Trust, and currently to Fortress Trust). We think it's important to have full visibility and control over custody for the safety of our clients given how many incompetent and/or malicious actors are operating some of these third party custodians. Of course we always encourage self-custody.
  2. We have zero-fee DCA. Whenever you DCA on River you pay zero fees on those purchases after the first week. Spreads are very tight.
  3. We support Lightning payments to and from your account
  4. We support Target Price Orders (similar to limit orders)
  5. We like to think our app and service are pretty sweet as well
  6. We put out pretty sweet research like our Lightning Report
  7. We have a lot of other unique features coming in the next few months. Stay tuned!
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0 sats \ 2 replies \ @BlokchainB 13 Oct 2023
  1. Offers hosted ASIC mining
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @brianh 13 Oct 2023
was the ASIC mining removed? i couldn't find anything on their website about it and i remember seeing content about it before
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @BlokchainB 13 Oct 2023
It’s on the app and last I checked they were sold out
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46 sats \ 1 reply \ @nikotsla 13 Oct 2023
How do you handle the balance between be an actor in a p2p network (mesh) and force central routes (star) with the objective to have a low failed payments? It's like the behavior isn't p2p, select "good" peers, filter alternative networks, etc.
Do you think in the future there will be no reason to optimize or we are going into a centralization path?
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @SachinMeier OP 13 Oct 2023
I worry about centralization in LN yes.
However, we can't combat centralization by fighting incentives or doing sub-rational things (like peering with subpar peers, wasting liquidity, etc.). We either win (stay decentralized) by setting up the right incentives & building the right tech, or we don't. Altruism is only a method for bootstrapping, not a sustainable model for at-scale networks.
For River in the specific, we do aim to minimize failed payments, and while that requires pruning bad peers, i don't think it's as pro-centralization as it seems. The tech exists or will exist to allow anyone to be a good peer. The main challenge will be whether capital requirements drive centralization.
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46 sats \ 1 reply \ @03365d6a53 13 Oct 2023
What is River?
edit - found the website: https://river.com
full KYC, American, custodial bitcoin only savings account
No multisig option
ok, question - when multisig? (eliminate trust in river)
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92 sats \ 0 replies \ @SachinMeier OP 13 Oct 2023
By multisig, do you mean collaborative custody? We don't offer that, but we have Lightning and onchain withdrawals to allow you to withdraw to your own multisig quite easily.
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3 sats \ 1 reply \ @weatherall 13 Oct 2023
Possible to put an automated coinjoin option in the automated btc buy ---> send to wallet path?
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @SachinMeier OP 13 Oct 2023
No, this is a cool feature, but not currently possible
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1 sat \ 1 reply \ @spacewrangler 13 Oct 2023
When Android app?
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9 sats \ 0 replies \ @SachinMeier OP 13 Oct 2023
soonTM! But Actually very soon.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @LowK3y19 20 Dec
I see you guys are FDIC insured but that’s only if the bank institution fails correct?
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @2bithits 13 Oct 2023
Are you guys profitable?
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @tmoney 13 Oct 2023
What are some of the difficulties with setting up direct deposit? It's my favorite way to buy bitcoin and wish I could on River.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @adexmakai4211 13 Oct 2023
Good evening here. Hope I am not late to this? I personally i have been wondering about what River is into and all about. I first saw River on Bitcoin magazine platform. I have some questions to ask.
  1. Is river a payment channel to buy Bitcoin like luno?
  2. Is river another lightning wallet? Because I am drew to Bitcoin because of this feature.
  3. Lastly, what makes river stands out?
Thanks.
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @benthecarman 13 Oct 2023
Are you guys working on a dlc thing?
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @SachinMeier OP 13 Oct 2023
No, not at River
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @thebitcoinbugle 13 Oct 2023
Yo what is River's stance on the Swan/BTC Mag "Ji-Hodl" initiative happening today?
https://www.thebitcoinbugle.com/bitcoiners-counter-national-day-of-rage-by-shouting-bitcoin-fixes-this/
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