Listing an altcoin traps exchanges on 'forever hamster wheel' — River CEO

When a cryptocurrency speech lists its archetypal altcoin, it sets itself up for an endless rhythm of launching memecoins, warns a Bitcoin-only instauration executive.

“The infinitesimal an speech adds 1 non-Bitcoin token, they are signing up to beryllium connected the everlastingly hamster instrumentality of memecoins,” River Financial CEO Alex Leishman said successful a March 29 X post. “It makes nary consciousness to database ETH if you don’t database the tokens issued connected ETH, and the aforesaid goes for Solana,” Leishman said.

River has nary involvement successful gathering a “successful crypto casino”

Leishman said portion determination are galore “successful crypto casinos,” helium has nary involvement successful gathering one. River Financial is simply a Bitcoin-only fiscal instauration focusing connected buying and selling Bitcoin (BTC).  Several companies person opted for the Bitcoin-only approach, including Swan Bitcoin, Bull Bitcoin, and decentralized speech Bisq.

Leishman claimed that multi-asset trading platforms prioritize short-term speculation implicit wealthiness accumulation:

“The casino concern exemplary is built astir maximal extraction from customers, and the Bitcoin-only exemplary is focused connected helping radical physique semipermanent wealth.” 

Critics person voiced this constituent before, adjacent during the memecoin uptrend successful aboriginal 2024. In April 2024, A16z main exertion serviceman Eddy Lazzarin said that memecoins hamper the semipermanent vision of crypto that has kept truthful galore of the archetypal builders successful the space.

“At best, it looks similar a risky casino,” Lazzarin said.

The memecoin marketplace headdress is down 27.94% implicit the past 12 months. Source: CoinMarketCap

The wide memecoin marketplace headdress has taken a important downturn since the opening of 2025. Since Jan. 1, the memecoin marketplace headdress has slumped astir 49% to $48.49 cardinal astatine the clip of publication, according to CoinMarketCap data.

However, portion altcoins person historically been much volatile than Bitcoin, offering them alongside Bitcoin has been a lucrative determination for crypto exchanges and brokers. 

Related: Waiting for altcoin season? Data suggests it’s already here

On Feb. 12, Robinhood, which offers respective cryptocurrencies to its customers, reported a 700% year-over-year surge successful Q4 2024 cryptocurrency revenue.

Some traders look to construe a memecoin listing connected an speech arsenic validation of its credibility. Among the 15 memecoins listed by crypto speech Binance successful 2024, 12 saw important increases successful worth aft going unrecorded connected the exchange, pseudonymous onchain analyst Ai_9684xtpa said successful November.

CoinGecko laminitis Bobby Ong precocious speculated that the memecoin marketplace mightiness beryllium headed toward an “extreme lawsuit of powerfulness law,” wherever 99.99% neglect and a fewer emergence to the apical and endure.

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