RIVER Token Surges Into Crypto Spotlight
River (RIVER), a relatively obscure cryptocurrency, has experienced a dramatic surge over the past month, soaring by more than 1,900% and breaking into the top 100 digital assets by market value, according to CoinGecko.
This token, which powers a multi-chain stablecoin abstraction platform also named River, was valued at approximately $5 at the end of December. Since then, its price has skyrocketed to around $82, giving it a market capitalization of roughly $1.6 billion and ranking it as the 67th largest cryptocurrency.
The River platform is designed to eliminate the need for bridging stablecoins between different blockchains. Its recent rise has caught the eye of prominent figures in the crypto industry, including Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, and Arthur Hayes, the founder of BitMex. Both have publicly supported the project in recent weeks.
Arthur Hayes was among the first to highlight River’s potential, advocating for more centralized exchanges to list the token as early as January 6. Despite a general downturn in the broader crypto market, RIVER’s value has increased more than fourfold since then.
Last week, Justin Sun further boosted River’s profile by committing $8 million to the protocol to help integrate Tron—his own layer-1 blockchain—into the River ecosystem.
Support from Sun and Hayes has brought significant attention to RIVER, which has climbed 168% in the past week alone. However, the token’s rapid growth may not be as straightforward as it appears.
According to blockchain analytics provider CoinGlass, RIVER serves as a recent example of how funding rates—fees set by exchanges to balance spot and contract prices—can be used to influence token prices.
CoinGlass explained on X that the process begins by keeping the price low while pushing funding rates deeply negative. This encourages traders to take short positions, fostering the belief that negative funding will inevitably lead to a price rebound.
Once this scenario is established, traders tend to go long, anticipating a price increase and funding payouts. However, CoinGlass warns that this expectation often acts as a trap, and the setup can be repeated, drawing in more traders to the same position.
Currently, the prevailing sentiment is bullish on RIVER, which has gained another 12% in the past day, reaching a new all-time high above $87 on Monday.
Data from DeFiLlama shows that River’s protocol currently holds about $161 million in total value locked (TVL), a decrease from its peak of $605 million in October. The platform’s over-collateralized stablecoin, satUSD, has a market capitalization of approximately $159 million, ranking it as the 40th largest stablecoin by market cap.
