Ripple and Kraken Back SPAC Aiming to Build $1B Public XRP Treasury

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 firm.

Evernorth Holdings disclosed the plan in a press release Monday, saying it signed a business combination agreement with Armada Acquisition Corp II (AACI). If the deal closes, the combined company is slated to keep the Evernorth name and “is expected” to trade on Nasdaq under XRPN. The companies are targeting the first quarter of 2026, subject to shareholder approvals and listing requirements.

Deal outline and funding

The release says the transaction is expected to raise more than $1 billion in gross proceeds, including a $200 million commitment from SBI. Other backers listed include Ripple, Rippleworks, Pantera Capital, Kraken and GSR, with participation from Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen.

Evernorth says most of the net proceeds will be used to buy xrp on the open market to build an institutional treasury, with the remainder earmarked for working capital and deal expenses. Class A shares of AACI that are not redeemed would convert one-for-one into Class A shares of Evernorth at closing.

How the vehicle is positioned

Evernorth pitches itself as a public vehicle that offers simple exposure to XRP while actively seeking to grow xrp per share over time. Rather than track the asset passively, the company says it plans to lend to institutions, provide liquidity and participate in decentralized-finance strategies to generate yield.

“Evernorth is built to provide investors more than just exposure to XRP’s price,” CEO Asheesh Birla said. “As we capitalize on traditional yield opportunities and deploy into DeFi when appropriate, we intend to help mature that ecosystem. Our goal is to create returns for shareholders while reinforcing XRP’s utility.”

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 into XRP-based DeFi. It also highlights plans to support projects focused on payments, capital markets, and tokenized assets. Those initiatives, like the listing and capital raise, depend on the transaction closing and on market conditions.

People and governance

Birla, a former senior executive at Ripple, will lead a team that includes CFO Matthew Frymier, COO Meg Nakamura, Chief Legal Officer Jessica Jonas and Chief Business Officer Sagar Shah, according to the announcement.

Ripple is described as a strategic investor, and Ripple executives Brad Garlinghouse, Stuart Alderoty, and David Schwartz are expected to serve as strategic advisers. Evernorth says it will maintain independent governance.

“Having worked alongside Asheesh for many years, I’m fully confident in his and the team’s ability to take XRP’s presence in capital markets to the next level,” Garlinghouse said in the release.

What comes next

Both boards approved the deal, the companies said. The outcome now turns on shareholder votes, potential redemptions, regulatory review, and execution of the funding plan outlined in the announcement. If completed, XRPN would give public-market investors exposure to XRP’s price plus any incremental returns the firm can generate through lending, liquidity, and DeFi participation.