Evernorth Starts Nasdaq Trading With 473 Million XRP and a Yield Plan

A company whose main asset is a pile of XRP just started trading on the Nasdaq. Evernorth opened for business as a public company on Monday under the ticker XRPN, carrying roughly 473 million XRP.

What it actually owns

At the close of its merger with blank-check firm Armada Acquisition Corp. II, Evernorth held about 473 million XRP alongside $300 million in gross cash proceeds before transaction expenses. That XRP stash is worth roughly $672 million, which leaves the company just outside the 20 largest publicly traded corporate crypto holders. The deal closed on Oct. 9, after shareholders approved it with about 20.5 million Armada shares voting in favor and 1.4 million against. Read the cash number carefully: $300 million is gross proceeds, not what is left after fees and costs.

Not a buy-and-hold fund

Most crypto treasury companies buy coins and sit on them. Evernorth says it wants to do the opposite. The plan is to put its XRP to work through lending, liquidity provision and other yield strategies, with the goal of growing the amount of XRP it holds per share. To run that book, Evernorth hired Hugo Jeandesboz, formerly a co-chief investment officer at Coinbase Asset Management, as its investment chief. CEO Asheesh Birla said the company will also target XRP ecosystem infrastructure, on-chain credit markets and other capital-markets plays.

Why this matters if you hold XRP

The investor list is heavy: Ripple, Kraken, Pantera Capital, SBI Group, Arrington Capital and GSR all back the vehicle. For XRP holders, XRPN is a second way to bet on the token without buying it directly, and one that comes with quarterly filings and public scrutiny. It cuts both ways, though. A treasury company's stock can trade above or below the value of the coins it holds, and dilution plus running costs can move the share price independently of XRP.