Bitcoin, Mining, and Financial Services by Alexander Leishman

Alexander Leishman is co-founder and CEO of River Financial, a U.S.-based Bitcoin-only platform offering brokerage, custody, and Lightning Network services. Since launching River in 2019, Leishman has raised over USD 50 million from investors such as Craft Ventures and Polychain Capital. His background includes roles at Maicoin, Airbnb’s security team, and Stanford University, where he taught and assisted in one of the first academic Bitcoin courses. He holds degrees in aerospace engineering and computer science, with early research in cryptography and system architecture.

River’s core platform supports high-frequency trading, custom custody plans, and Lightning-enabled withdrawals, with a focus on Bitcoin as long-term capital. In 2025, Leishman warned that Bitcoin’s public key model makes it vulnerable to quantum computing threats, particularly if users reuse addresses. His company processed over USD 500 million in volume in the first half of 2025 and operates nodes across the U.S. and Europe. A vocal critic of altcoin exchanges, Leishman compares Bitcoin custody to regulated banking and urges regulators to draw clearer lines between asset types and custodial obligations.