Evernorth
Evernorth is a digital asset treasury company built to give public-market investors regulated exposure to XRP, the native cryptocurrency of the XRP Ledger.[1] Formally organized as Evernorth Holdings, Inc. and headquartered at 600 Battery Street in San Francisco, California, the company was created to raise a large pool of capital, use most of it to buy and manage XRP on a corporate balance sheet, and become a publicly traded stock rather than a spot exchange-traded fund.[2][3] It was founded and is led by Asheesh Birla, a longtime Ripple executive, and counts Ripple, SBI Group, Arrington Capital, Pantera Capital, Kraken, and GSR among its investors.[4]
Overview
Evernorth's operating model is to raise capital through strategic partnerships, investments, and capital-markets activity, and to deploy that capital to purchase and manage XRP as a core treasury asset held on its corporate balance sheet.[5] Rather than pursuing a simple buy-and-hold approach, the company says it intends to actively manage its holdings with the stated objective of growing the amount of XRP represented by each share over time, a metric it and observers refer to as "XRP per share."[4] The headline funding target is over $1 billion in gross proceeds, with most of that money earmarked for open-market purchases of XRP and a smaller portion reserved for working capital, general corporate purposes, and transaction expenses.[3][7]
To grow XRP per share, Evernorth says it will combine open-market buying with institutional yield strategies, selective decentralized finance (DeFi) yield, ecosystem participation, and capital-markets execution.[5] The specific tactics it has described include institutional lending, liquidity provisioning, and selected DeFi tools, all managed within disclosed risk controls.[3] CEO Asheesh Birla has stated that "Evernorth is built to provide investors more than just exposure to XRP's price," and that the company will "capitalize on existing TradFi yield generation strategies and deploy into DeFi yield opportunities" in an approach "designed to generate returns for shareholders while supporting XRP's utility and adoption."[7]
Because Evernorth is equity rather than a fund, its returns can differ from spot XRP due to strategy choices, expenses, and equity-market pricing, and its share price could trade at a premium or discount to the value of the XRP backing each share — a dynamic described across the digital-asset treasury sector as a central issue.[4] Analysts have noted that if the stock trades at a premium, Evernorth could raise more capital and buy more XRP, creating a reinforcing loop that could unwind in risk-off markets.[3] The company contrasts its active corporate-equity approach with a passive spot ETF's tracking, and says its shares are intended to remove the need for corporate treasuries to build in-house custody and wallet operations while offering market-hours liquidity, public-company disclosure, and audited transparency.[3]
Beyond treasury management, Evernorth has indicated it plans to participate more broadly in the XRP ecosystem, including operating XRP validators, using Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin as an on-ramp for XRP-denominated DeFi activity, and providing liquidity for projects that expand XRP's real-world utility.[7] The company has stated these ecosystem activities remain subject to market conditions and completion of the merger.[3] The underlying asset, XRP, has a total supply that was fixed at 100 billion tokens when the XRP Ledger launched in 2012, and the network does not rely on mining.[3]
Path to a Nasdaq Listing
Evernorth's public debut was first announced on October 20, 2025, when reporting confirmed that the newly formed Evernorth Holdings would merge with Armada Acquisition Corp. II and that, upon closing, the combined company would operate as Evernorth and trade on Nasdaq under the ticker XRPN.[7] The news came less than a week after Bloomberg reported that Ripple Labs was leading an effort to raise $1 billion for a new XRP treasury, and on the same day Ripple said it had acquired the corporate treasury software firm GTreasury for $1 billion.[7] Armada Acquisition Corp. II is a SPAC sponsored by Arrington XRP Capital Fund, LP, and was founded on October 3, 2024; its leadership includes Chief Executive Officer Taryn Naidu, Chairman Michael Arrington, and Chief Financial Officer Kyle Horton, with a board comprising Arrington, Naidu, Richard Danis, Lindy Key, and Ronald Palmeri.[2]
A key procedural milestone came on August 27, 2026, when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission declared effective the registration statement on Form S-4 relating to the proposed business combination.[2] The S-4 registers up to 34,499,992 shares of Evernorth Class A common stock and 11,499,992 warrants to be issued through the combination.[1] Marking the milestone, Birla said, "Today marks an important milestone toward completing our proposed business combination," adding that the company plans "to enter public markets as blockchain utility continues to grow, and we believe institutional finance will increasingly be built on-chain. Evernorth is designed to accelerate XRP's role in that work."[2] Reporting has emphasized that SEC effectiveness does not amount to an endorsement of the merger, Evernorth, or XRP, and does not guarantee the deal will close.[4][1]
The registration's effectiveness cleared the way for Armada to convene a special meeting of its shareholders of record as of August 20, 2026, to vote on the transaction.[2] That vote was scheduled for September 30, 2026, and was described in coverage as more than another crypto SPAC deadline and as a major hurdle for the deal.[4] If shareholders approve the business combination and the remaining closing and customary Nasdaq listing conditions are satisfied, the combined company is expected to list under the ticker XRPN, with the transaction targeted to close shortly after shareholder approval — described in filings as late in the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter of 2026, and in earlier reporting as targeted for the first quarter of 2026.[4][1][7] The amount of cash that reaches Evernorth's balance sheet at closing depends on two mechanics common to SPAC deals: private investment in public equity (PIPE) allocations tied to the merger, and SPAC shareholder redemptions, whose final mix affects the company's initial capacity to buy XRP.[3]
XRPN is structured as a standard Nasdaq-listed equity security and is not a crypto token.[5] Although Ripple is an investor and Birla previously spent more than a decade at Ripple, reporting has stated explicitly that Evernorth is a separate company and that calling XRPN a "Ripple stock" would be misleading.[4]
Funding and Investors
The Evernorth transaction is designed to raise over $1 billion in gross proceeds, most of which is intended for open-market XRP purchases.[7] The anchor investor is Japan's SBI Holdings, which committed $200 million.[3] Additional backers named in Evernorth's disclosures and related reporting include Ripple, Rippleworks, Arrington Capital, Pantera Capital, Kraken, and GSR, along with Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen.[2][7] Larsen said he was "proud to invest" 50 million XRP into the new firm.[7] Ripple's chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, publicly welcomed the effort, writing that "XRP has clear regulatory standing in the US, and it's no surprise that companies like @evernorthxrp are looking to focus on XRP."[7]
Evernorth secured a $30 million convertible-note commitment from South Korea's NH Investment & Securities, with proceeds described as potentially adding further capital to its XRP strategy.[4] The company has stated it acquired 388.71 million XRP, which it described as 95% of its stated target; those figures are project-stated and remain to be validated by filings and reporting.[5] If the deal closes and funding proceeds as planned, Evernorth aims to become the largest publicly traded holder of XRP.[3]
Leadership and Governance
Evernorth is led by founder and Chief Executive Officer Asheesh Birla, who oversees the company's overall vision, strategy, and growth. The company describes him as an entrepreneur and blockchain executive with over 25 years of experience in Silicon Valley who has held board roles at Ripple, MoneyGram, Bitso, and other fintech startups.[8] At Ripple, where he led the payments business, he is credited with helping launch the company's first enterprise crypto product and scaling it from a startup to more than 1,000 employees; he is stepping down from Ripple's board to serve as Evernorth's CEO.[8][3] Birla holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan, and guest lectures on entrepreneurship and blockchain.[8]
The senior executive team includes:
- Sagar Shah, Chief Business Officer, who oversees partnerships, product commercialization, and ecosystem strategy. He began his career in investment banking, private equity, and corporate development, and has spent most of the past decade in the XRP ecosystem; at Ripple he helped scale blockchain-based cross-border payments, led the acquisition of the digital-asset custody platform Metaco, and helped launch the Ripple stablecoin RLUSD. He holds an M.B.A. from Wharton and a bachelor's degree from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.[8]
- Matt Harris, Chief Financial Officer, who oversees Evernorth's financial strategy and operations. He has worked across investment banking, asset management, and fintech leadership, has served on the boards of more than 15 companies and as Chairman of the Chicago Stock Exchange, and spent 20 years at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and affiliates as head of the Global Strategic Capital division, where he managed over $8 billion of balance-sheet capital. He holds a bachelor's degree from Colby College.[8]
- Jessica "Jess" Jonas, Chief Legal Officer, who leads legal and regulatory strategy. After practicing commercial litigation and clerking in the Eastern District of New York, she held senior roles at Gemini and American Express and served as Chief Legal Officer of the Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund. She holds a J.D. from UNC School of Law and a bachelor's degree from Wesleyan University.[8]
- Meg Nakamura, Chief Operating Officer, who drives operational execution, go-to-market strategy, and organizational growth. She founded and led Apto Payments as CEO, building card infrastructure and payment processing for fintech companies including Coinbase and Venmo, and holds a bachelor's degree from Princeton University.[8]
- Boris Kapeller, Chief Risk Officer, who will oversee financial risk strategy and the controls framework. He spent four years at Coinbase, where he built the market risk management team and later led the Financial Control and Analytics team, and previously spent 16 years at HSBC USA, including as Head of the Traded Risk team.[8]
- Charles Stewart, Chief Communications Officer, who will lead communications, marketing, and brand strategy. He most recently led communications at Joby Aviation and previously led corporate and product communications at Opendoor, where he co-managed its 2020 public listing; he began his career on Capitol Hill and later held senior roles at Yahoo and Verizon Media.[8]
Evernorth's Board of Directors comprises Dr. Derar Islim, Stuart Alderoty, and Ted Janus.[8] The company also lists advisors drawn from Ripple's leadership, including Chief Executive Officer Brad Garlinghouse and Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz.[8] Ripple is to remain a strategic investor, and Garlinghouse, Alderoty, and Schwartz are expected to serve in advisory capacities; reporting has noted that Schwartz will be leaving Ripple at the end of 2025.[3][7]
Public Communications and Outreach
Evernorth operates a public presence under the handle , an account created in September 2025 and listing San Francisco, California, as its location, through which it publishes videos, short-form messages, and links to press releases.[6] In September 2026 the company confirmed it expects to list on Nasdaq as XRPN and highlighted a collaboration with "BearChamp," described as a fighter and XRP community member.[6] Its outreach included attendance at Korea Blockchain Week, where the company noted that Korea's two largest exchanges often show more XRP trading than Bitcoin or Ether, with Chief Business Officer Sagar Shah addressing who drives that trading and how institutions evaluate the opportunity.[6] On September 24, 2026, Birla joined an X Spaces conversation hosted on the XRP Ledger Foundation account covering Korea, the BearChamp collaboration, and the implications of a public listing.[6] In a September 18, 2026 thread, the company recounted that a decade earlier Birla had presented XRP to New York institutions that offered no action, contrasting that with institutions today that are "standing up teams and moving forward."[6] Around January 15, Birla appeared at Nasdaq alongside Kristina Ayanian to discuss what was then a planned first-quarter 2026 IPO and the company's goal of making institutional XRP access "as simple as buying a public stock," a timeline later superseded by the SPAC-merger listing schedule described in the Path to a Nasdaq Listing section.[6]
