River: The First On-Chain Abstract Stablecoin System - The Third Path of Stablecoins, Using Chain Abstraction to Solve Liquidity Fragmentation

2025-08-13 19:00

Read this article in 8 Minutes

River is building a system that allows any asset to participate in cross-chain transactions and move freely.

River aims to establish a chain-abstract stablecoin system, allowing users to deposit assets on Chain A, mint satUSD stablecoins on Chain B; create a stablecoin system that does not require cross-chain or wrapping operations, enabling users to securely access yield opportunities on various chains without selling their assets.

The Capital Conundrum in the Multi-Chain Era

Over the past 2 years, DeFi has experienced rapid growth, and the ecosystem has entered the multi-chain era:

·300+ Layer2 chains
·30+ stablecoins
·20+ BTC, ETH-based LSD/LST

While this may seem prosperous, capital and liquidity are locked in isolated silos on each chain.

For example, staking ETH on Arbitrum while holding BNB on the BNB Chain, to participate in the same strategy often requires 2-3 cross-chain transactions and asset swaps through DEX, leading to high fees and increased cross-chain risks.

The multi-chain approach has brought choice but has not facilitated efficient asset utilization, preventing the natural flow of value across ecosystems.

River Chain-Abstract Stablecoin System

Traditional stablecoins operate on a single chain, requiring third-party liquidity for cross-chain transactions. River has chosen the third path—chain abstraction.

The key is to hide the boundaries between chains, allowing users to interact without the need to separately provide capital and liquidity for each chain.

This is made possible through the combination of LayerZero technology and the OFT standard:

·Deposit BTC, ETH, BNB, LST on any chain

·Mint satUSD natively on another chain

·No cross-chain or wrapping required, securely circulating within various ecosystems

It's like having a globally universal bank account, without the need to open new accounts in every country, allowing for instant settlement, payment, and investment.

River Products Launched with a Total Locked Value of $400 Million

In the past 2 months, River's chain-abstract stablecoin system has achieved:

·Over $400 million in TVL (Total Value Locked)

·Over $1 Billion satUSD Circulating Supply

·Support for BTC, ETH, BNB, LST as Collateral

·Integration with Over 30 Protocols (Pendle, ListaDAO, Solv...)

·Ranked #1 in CDP Stablecoins across BNB Chain, Arbitrum, Hemi, BOB, and other ecosystems

This means that regardless of the chain, your assets can be instantly activated and deployed across multiple strategies.

Why River is Needed Now

As of today, DeFi TVL has surpassed $150 billion, with stablecoin total market cap reaching $270 billion.

In theory, the growth in market cap and TVL should lead to a more vibrant DeFi ecosystem, but the reality is:

· Liquidity is more fragmented

· Asset transfers are challenging

· Yield opportunities are concentrated in a few protocols

· The barrier to entry for new users remains high

Against the backdrop of major DeFi and stablecoin giants, as well as publicly traded companies launching chains and building their own ecosystems, River's Chain-Agnostic Stablecoin System is positioned to address the liquidity fragmentation issue in a multi-chain ecosystem rather than contribute to further silos.

Chain-Agnostic Stablecoin? Interconnecting Liquidity and Value Flow Across Multiple Chains

River is not just any stablecoin; it is a technology that reverses the traditional logic of asset movement using "whole-chain-native" technology.

You can fork Ethena's hedge strategies, Liquity's liquidation model, Usual Money's stablecoin minting mechanism, but you cannot fork the chain-agnostic underlying architecture created by River.

All existing stablecoins, from day one, did not consider "how to solve the integration of cross-chain assets, cross-chain liquidity, and cross-chain yield." River's satUSD stablecoin has aimed to be whole-chain-native from Day 1, adopting a LayerZero structure and deploying the satUSD stablecoin system natively in the OFT format, with no similar product emerging to date.

The seamless feeling without the need for cross-chain interoperability is something you can only truly understand through experience. This experiential gap is like the first time you used cryptocurrency for a peer-to-peer transaction and realized how outdated traditional cross-border bank transfers are.

River's goal is not just to issue a stablecoin, but to enable any asset in the world to seamlessly participate in value creation, distribution, and circulation wherever it is needed.

Enable every on-chain asset to flow to any user globally.

Connect with value, flow with River