Ripple Labs-affiliated digital asset firm Evernorth Holdings has announced plans to go public through a merger with Armada Acquisition Corporation II, a Nasdaq-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), in a move aimed at capturing growing institutional demand for publicly traded digital asset treasury companies.
The deal is expected to generate gross proceeds of more than $1 billion, including a $200 million investment from Japan’s SBI Holdings, which has a historical relationship with SoftBank. The company said it expects additional support from Ripple, Pantera Capital, Kraken, and GSR.
Evernorth said the funds will be used to build one of the world’s largest XRP (XRP) vaults through open market purchases of digital assets.
Once the merger is complete, the combined company will trade on the Nasdaq Market under the ticker symbol XRPN.
Evernorth CEO Asheesh Birla said the new investment vehicle is designed to “accelerate the adoption of XRP” amid growing interest in decentralized finance (DeFi) and provides investors with an open market vehicle to gain exposure to XRP and related digital asset strategies.
The announcement follows reports that Ripple Labs plans to raise approximately $1 billion through the sale of XRP to create its own digital asset vault by combining newly acquired tokens with some of its existing holdings.
Separately, Ripple recently agreed to acquire corporate treasury management platform GTreasury in a deal valued at approximately $1 billion, with the aim of expanding corporate liquidity and payments infrastructure.
Meanwhile, other companies, including VivoPower, have announced digital asset strategies focused on XRP, highlighting growing institutional investor interest in the token.
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The rise of digital asset treasury (DAT) strategies
Evernorth’s efforts to create a digital asset vault are not unique. This year alone, dozens of companies have emerged with similar ambitions to stockpile cryptocurrencies as part of their corporate balance sheets.
Much of this move can be traced back to the strategy of Michael Saylor, who became the first major public company to adopt Bitcoin (BTC) as a primary treasury reserve asset. That position has since grown to nearly 700,000 BTC.
As companies seek out digital assets with strong growth stories, their financial strategies have expanded beyond Bitcoin to include assets such as Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), and Etena (ENA).
Still, not everyone is convinced. Deng Chao, CEO of crypto venture firm Hashkey Capital, said he believes digital asset treasury strategies continue to face skepticism from traditional finance, which remains a barrier to widespread institutional adoption.
Others share similar concerns. David Bailey, CEO of Bitcoin treasury firm Nakamoto, argued that the poor performance of altcoins is undermining confidence in the broader digital asset treasury model.
“Toxic funding, failed altcoins renamed DAT, too many failed companies with no plan or vision. This completely confuses the narrative,” Bailey said.
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