XRP has recently taken a significant step towards institutional acceptance, with the announcement of a corporate treasury company, marking a first for the cryptocurrency. The initiative is spearheaded by Evernorth Holdings, which has filed an S-4 registration with the SEC to go public through a $1 billion merger with Armada Acquisition Corp. II, a special purpose acquisition company already listed on Nasdaq.
Evernorth holds a substantial position in XRP, boasting approximately 473 million tokens. The company’s strategic approach involves leveraging this holding through diverse channels including lending, decentralized finance (DeFi), and on-chain yield strategies. The proposed merger, if approved, will see the newly formed entity operate under the ticker XRPN, making it the largest public company centered on a single crypto asset other than Bitcoin.
To establish its position, Evernorth invested a total of $214.1 million to acquire 84.4 million XRP at an average price of about $2.54 per token. Additionally, the firm received contributions from Ripple, which provided 126.8 million XRP, and from Arrington Capital, which added another 211.3 million XRP as part of the funding round associated with the merger. At the current trading price of around $1.45, Evernorth’s XRP holdings are valued at approximately $680 million, significantly less than the original purchase price.
Leading the initiative is Asheesh Birla, a former Ripple executive, who founded Evernorth in 2025. The venture has garnered support from several high-profile investors, including Ripple, SBI Holdings, Pantera Capital, Kraken, and GSR. This backing is significant, especially given the recent regulatory clarity provided by the SEC and CFTC, which classified XRP as a digital commodity. This designation could play a crucial role in the firm’s stability and growth trajectory, as a lack of such classification might hinder its operational viability.
Evernorth’s business model diverges notably from traditional XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs). While ETFs, which collectively manage around $1 billion and 772 million XRP, passively track the price of the cryptocurrency, Evernorth is designed to actively expand its XRP holdings, focusing on income generation and treasury growth. The S-4 filing outlines a range of strategies including lending XRP through institutional channels, creating liquidity pools using Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin paired with XRP, and executing various options strategies to generate income.
In collaboration with t54 Labs, Evernorth aims to implement these strategies using automated systems that incorporate institutional risk controls. The ultimate goal is to enhance shareholder value by not only benefiting from the potential appreciation of XRP’s price but also expanding the treasury itself.
Despite the ambitious plans, there are hurdles that could impede Evernorth’s impact on XRP’s market price. The merger is contingent on SEC approval and requires a vote from Armada II shareholders, some of whom might opt to redeem their shares, which could reduce the capital available for purchasing additional XRP. Moreover, the treasury currently reflects a paper loss, with market prices below the initial acquisition cost, leading to substantial impairments.
Furthermore, the proposed yield strategies remain untested at a larger scale, and the various avenues outlined in the filing are still reliant on plans rather than proven revenue streams. Currently, Evernorth’s holdings represent only about 0.77% of XRP’s circulating supply, a factor that historically has shown to be insufficient to move market prices significantly.
In comparison, previous efforts to develop Bitcoin’s treasury saw incremental changes over several years as institutional buying scaled up. For XRP’s price to reflect any potential influence from Evernorth’s treasury, sustained institutional involvement and growth akin to Bitcoin’s trajectory would be necessary.
