An EVM-compatible parachain on Kusama, Moonriver is Moonbeam’s canary network delivering low-fee, fast-finality smart contracts with cross-chain interoperability via XCM and XC-20 assets.
Moonriver is a mainnet Kusama parachain and EVM-compatible smart-contract platform that serves as Moonbeam’s canary network, with MOVR as the native gas and governance token. It’s used to deploy and battle-test Ethereum dApps and run cross-chain DeFi, NFT, and gaming via XCM/XC-20, benefiting from ~12s block times, low average fees (often <$0.01–$0.05 per simple transfer), practical throughput in the tens–low hundreds TPS with higher burst capacity, and activity typically in the thousands of daily transactions.
Moonriver uniquely blends Ethereum-native tooling (Solidity, MetaMask, Hardhat, EIP-1559) with Polkadot/Kusama interoperability (XCM and XC-20s), and it receives new runtime upgrades before Moonbeam for rapid iteration. Versus typical L1s and many sidechains, it offers predictable low gas (sub-cent to low-cent), ~12s blocks, shared security/finality from the Kusama relay chain, and real-world throughput in the tens–low hundreds TPS—well-suited for cost-efficient cross-chain routing and scalable DeFi.
Moonriver uses MOVR as the gas token for transaction fees. You can obtain MOVR by bridging from other chains or purchasing using thirdweb Bridge.
To bridge MOVR to Moonriver, connect your wallet to thirdweb bridge, select your source chain, choose the token you want to bridge, select Moonriver as the destination, enter the amount, and confirm the transaction. The bridge will handle the cross-chain transfer instantly.
To build on Moonriver you can use thirdweb, which provides an easy way to build, monetize and scale your apps, games or agents. You can find detailed guides and documentation on https://portal.thirdweb.com to get started quickly.
To add Moonriver to your wallet, you can connect your wallet and click on [Add to Wallet] button at the top of the page. Alternatively, you can add the network manually using the RPC URL and chain details and add it to your wallet's network settings.
To send MOVR on Moonriver, ensure your wallet is connected to the Moonriver network, enter the recipient's address, specify the amount of MOVR to send, review the gas fee, and confirm the transaction in your wallet.