A newly formed Nevada company says it will go public and build what it calls a large publicly traded xrp treasury through a merger with a blank check company.
Evernorth Holdings revealed the plan in a press release on Monday, saying it signed a business combination agreement with Armada Acquisition Corp II (AACI). If the deal closes, the combined company is scheduled to keep the Evernorth name and is “expected” to list on Nasdaq under XRPN. The companies are targeting the first quarter of 2026, subject to shareholder approvals and listing requirements.
Outline of the agreement and financing
The statement said the transaction is expected to raise more than $1 billion in gross proceeds, including a $200 million commitment from the SBI. Other backers listed include Ripple, Rippleworks, Pantera Capital, Kraken and GSR, with participation from Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen.
Evernorth says the majority of the net proceeds will be used to purchase xrp on the open market to build an institutional treasury, with the remainder going toward working capital and transaction expenses. AACI Class A shares that are not redeemed would be converted one for one into Evernorth Class A shares at closing.
How the vehicle is positioned
Evernorth presents itself as a public vehicle offering simple exposure to XRP while actively seeking to grow xrp per share over time. Instead of passively tracking the asset, the company says it plans to lend to institutions, provide liquidity, and engage in decentralized finance strategies to generate returns.
“Evernorth is designed to offer investors more than just exposure to the price of XRP,” said CEO Asheesh Birla. “As we capitalize on traditional yield opportunities and deploy into DeFi where appropriate, we intend to help mature that ecosystem. Our goal is to generate returns for shareholders while reinforcing the utility of XRP.”
Beyond treasury activity, the company says it intends to run validators on the XRP Ledger and use Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin as an on-ramp to XRP-based DeFi. It also highlights plans to support projects focused on payments, capital markets and tokenized assets. These initiatives, such as the listing and capital increase, depend on the closing of the transaction and market conditions.
People and governance
Birla, a former top executive at Ripple, will lead a team that includes Chief Financial Officer Matthew Frymier, Chief Operating Officer Meg Nakamura, Chief Legal Officer Jessica Jonas and Chief Commercial Officer Sagar Shah, according to the announcement.
Ripple describes itself as a strategic investor, and Ripple executives Brad Garlinghouse, Stuart Alderoty and David Schwartz are expected to act as strategic advisors. Evernorth says it will maintain independent governance.
“Having worked alongside Asheesh for many years, I have every confidence in his and the team’s ability to take XRP’s presence in the capital markets to the next level,” Garlinghouse said in the statement.
What comes next?
Both boards approved the deal, the companies said. The outcome now depends on shareholder votes, potential redemptions, regulatory review and execution of the financing plan outlined in the announcement. If completed, XRPN would provide public market investors with exposure to the price of XRP plus any incremental returns the company can generate through lending, liquidity, and participation in DeFi.
