Article Summary
This article explains how instant withdrawal works at River, including how your limit is applied, who is eligible, and how to check your remaining limit.
Instant withdrawal provides eligible River clients access to withdraw bitcoin and cash before the holding period has completed.
Normally, when you:
- Buy bitcoin with a linked bank account
- Buy bitcoin with cash that was recently added with a linked bank account
- Add cash from a linked bank account
With instant withdrawal, eligible clients can now withdraw or spend this bitcoin or cash up to a certain limit in a given time span before the holding period is completed. An example of this is buying bitcoin with a linked bank account then immediately withdrawing to self-custody.
- How does it work?
- Who is eligible?
- How do I check my instant withdrawal limit?
- How do I use instant withdrawal?
- What happens if I try to withdraw more than my instant limit?
- Does instant withdrawal affect my other limits?
- Can I increase my instant withdrawal limit?
How does it work?
Your available balance will always be used first and your instant withdrawal limit will only be used if there is not more available bitcoin or cash to use when withdrawing cash, sending bitcoin, paying a bill or making a transfer.
Your limit applies to both bitcoin and cash withdrawals combined, and resets on a rolling 7-day basis
Let’s say:
- You have $300 available to withdraw
- You also have a $1,000 instant withdrawal limit
If you withdraw $500:
- First $300 will come from your available withdrawable cash balance
- The remaining $200 will come from your instant withdrawal limit
- You now have $800 remaining on your limit
- After 7 days, the $200 is added back
Another example, let’s say:
- Bitcoin’s price is $100,000
- You have 0.01 BTC in your account but none of it is available to withdraw yet
- You have a $1,000 instant withdrawal limit
If you try to send 0.005 BTC ($500):
- Since your available bitcoin to withdraw is 0, your instant withdrawal limit is used
- $500 will be deducted from your limit
- You now have $500 remaining on your limit
- After 7 days, the $500 is added back
The following activity can apply to your instant withdrawal limit:
- Cash withdrawals
- Bitcoin sends (such as on-chain, lightning, River Link)
- Paying bills or making transfers with cash
Because bitcoin’s price fluctuates, any limit shown in cash is an estimate. The exact amount applied to your limit is calculated at the time your withdrawal is processed. Instant withdrawal does not add any extra fees. If you are sending bitcoin, any applicable fees such as on-chain fees are the same as they would be for a standard bitcoin withdrawal.
Who is eligible?
Instant withdrawal is available to eligible clients automatically, there is nothing extra to apply for or enable. If you are eligible, the feature will appear in your account. River periodically checks eligibility, so if the feature is not available to you today, it may become available over time as your account history develops.
However, before you are able to send bitcoin, you would first need to verify your River account. For instructions on how to verify your River account, please see this Help Center article.
How do I check my instant withdrawal limit?
- Go to your “Settings” and tap “Account limits”
- Under the “Instant Withdrawal” row, you will see your remaining limit
How do I use instant withdrawal?
You will automatically use your instant withdrawal limit depending on how much cash and bitcoin you would like to withdraw/use and how much is available at that time. No action is needed by you.
To send bitcoin, tap "Send" from the home screen on river.com or in the River app. To withdraw cash, navigate to your cash balance and tap "Withdraw."
In both cases, your available balance will already reflect your instant withdrawal capacity. Simply enter the amount you would like to send or withdraw and complete the transaction. If your available balance is not enough to cover the full amount, your instant limit is applied automatically.
If you are sending bitcoin, please note that the cash value of your available instant limit is an estimate. Bitcoin's price can move between the time you see the limit and when your transaction is processed, so the final amount applied to your limit may vary slightly.
What happens if I try to withdraw more than my instant limit?
If the amount you are trying to withdraw exceeds both your available balance and your remaining instant limit, you will see an error. You can either reduce the amount or wait for your instant withdrawal capacity to replenish.
Does instant withdrawal affect my other limits?
Your standard weekly withdrawal limits still apply. Instant withdrawal does not override or bypass your other account limits such as ForceField.
Can I increase my instant withdrawal limit?
Instant withdrawal limits are automatically assigned and cannot be manually increased.