Ripple's longtime Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz has announced his first major move after stepping down from his CTO role, revealing he will serve as a strategic advisor to Evernorth, an XRP-focused investment vehicle. Schwartz stated, "XRP community – I promised I’d have an update on my next adventure soon right? Well here’s the start: I’ll be a strategic advisor to Evernorth, helmed by my friend Asheesh Birla," adding that Evernorth was founded as a regulated, scalable vehicle to tap into opportunities for XRP in DeFi and capital markets.
Evernorth simultaneously disclosed a business combination agreement with Armada Acquisition Corp II to go public on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "XRPN", targeting over $1 billion in gross proceeds, including a $200 million commitment from Japan’s SBI. The deal, expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, will use net proceeds primarily for open-market XRP purchases, positioning Evernorth as the largest public XRP treasury company. The firm plans to actively grow XRP per share by lending to institutions, providing market liquidity, and deploying capital into XRP-based DeFi strategies.
Schwartz clarified that his advisory role is not a full-time commitment, emphasizing, "I’m not making any commitments past the end of the year that put significant demands on my daily schedule." This follows his earlier announcement that he will step down as Ripple CTO at year-end but remain on Ripple's board and active in the XRP Ledger community. Meanwhile, Asheesh Birla, a former Ripple executive who joined in 2013, is stepping down from Ripple's board to lead Evernorth as CEO, aiming to build a diversified crypto portfolio centered on XRP.
Evernorth's initiatives include running XRPL validators, using Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin, and supporting projects in payments and tokenized assets. Ripple will participate as a strategic investor, with executives Brad Garlinghouse and Stuart Alderoty also expected to serve as advisors. At the time of the announcement, XRP was trading at $2.42.
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