020 - Alex Leishman: Building a Trusted Bitcoin Financial Institution

Build With Bitcoin

Alex Leishman, CEO, CTO, and co-founder of River, shares his background and journey in the Bitcoin space. He discusses his interest in technology and economics, which led him to discover Bitcoin. Alex explains his vision for River as the most trusted Bitcoin bank and the need for custodial services. He highlights the importance of providing excellent customer service and building a strong reputation in the industry.
River's focus is on being the best place to buy Bitcoin in the U.S. and expanding its role as a core financial institution as Bitcoin adoption grows. River CEO Alex Leishman shares lessons learned, including the value of keeping things simple, sticking to your core business, and investing in improving foundational systems and operations.
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https://river.com/
Alex's recommended read: "Denationalisation of Money" by Hayek
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
04:17 Attracted to Bitcoin and Starting River
08:09 Choosing the Custodial Route and Providing Customer Service
13:40 River's Business Model and Future Plans
21:16 Institutional Adoption of Bitcoin
24:08 River's Client Base and Growth
25:53 Team Dynamics and Focus on People
27:44 The Dual Role of CEO and CTO: Simplicity and Focus
32:27 Lessons Learned: Keeping Things Simple and Sticking to Your Core
32:54 Funding Strategy: Raising from a Diverse Group of Investors
41:29 The Future of River: Bitcoin Custody and New App
49:19 Advice for Employees and Founders in the Bitcoin Space
52:04 Questioning the Existing Monetary System
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