Ripple-backed digital asset treasury firm Evernorth began trading on the Nasdaq on Monday under the ticker XRPN, giving traditional stock market investors exposure to XRP.
The listing follows the completion of Evernorth’s business combination with Armada Acquisition Corp. II on Friday. The company entered public markets holding approximately 473 million XRP and $300 million in gross cash proceeds, according to a Friday announcement.
Evernorth’s XRP holdings were valued at approximately $639 million according to current prices, well below the $1 billion in funding the company initially announced for its XRP treasury strategy. The company purchased XRP at $2.37 when the deal was signed, signaling a roughly 40% decline.
Evernorth’s Nasdaq debut also followed substantial redemptions by investors in Armada Acquisition Corp. II. Approximately 80.3% of the SPAC’s public shareholders redeemed their shares for cash before the merger closed, withdrawing roughly $195 million from the transaction.
Rather than holding XRP as a passive investment, Evernorth plans to pursue strategies designed to increase the amount of XRP backing each share.
The company intends to deploy its holdings through decentralized finance (DeFi) strategies, including lending and liquidity provision, as well as participation in the XRP Ledger ecosystem and validator operations. These activities are intended to generate yield and increase its XRP holdings per share over time.
Evernorth also appointed Hugo Jeandesboz, the former co-chief investment officer of Coinbase Asset Management, to oversee its investment strategy. His responsibilities include managing the company’s treasury allocation and pursuing opportunities across digital asset markets.
The company’s listing adds to the growing number of publicly traded businesses using digital assets as treasury reserves. While the model can give investors crypto exposure through traditional equity markets, returns remain vulnerable to token price swings and the challenges of managing a concentrated digital asset portfolio.
XRPN shares briefly climbed toward $19 before settling at $17.49, up 3% in after-hours trading.