Evernorth, set to hold 473 million XRP, to debut on Nasdaq Oct. 8

Evernorth, a U.S. company built to accumulate XRP, is set to list on Nasdaq next week. Evernorth and Armada Acquisition Corp. II, a Nasdaq-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), said on Oct. 1 that Armada II shareholders approved the business combination between the two companies at an extraordinary general meeting on Sept. 30. The companies said the deal would close on Oct. 7 and that Evernorth's common stock would begin trading on Nasdaq under the ticker "XRPN" on Oct. 8.

The companies said that at closing Evernorth would hold the most XRP of any publicly traded pure-play XRP treasury company. "Going public will offer investors a regulated, transparent way to own XRP exposure and participate in the growth of the blockchain economy," said Asheesh Birla, Evernorth's founder and CEO.

20.51 million shares for, 1.36 million against

According to a Form 8-K that Armada II filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Oct. 1, 23.71 million Class A shares and 7.88 million Class B shares were entitled to vote. Of those, 21,877,045 shares, or about 69%, were represented at the meeting. The core proposal to approve the business combination agreement received 20,514,034 votes for, 1,362,081 against and 930 abstentions. The other proposals put to a vote, including one to move the company from the Cayman Islands to Delaware, also passed.

Armada II, Evernorth, Ripple Labs and other parties signed the business combination agreement on Oct. 19, 2025. Closing remains subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the remaining closing conditions.

$300 million in cash, plus XRP contributed in kind

The companies said the deal would bring in about $300 million in gross cash proceeds before transaction expenses: $225 million from related private placements, $30 million of incremental convertible note financing and about $48 million from the SPAC's trust account. Investors have also contributed XRP in kind.

The purchaser of a $30 million convertible note disclosed by Armada II on Sept. 17 is Kyobo AIM Corporate Finance General Private Investment Trust No. 3, a South Korean private fund. Evernorth signed the note purchase agreement on Sept. 11 with NH Investment & Securities, the fund's trustee. The notes carry 4.00% interest paid in additional notes rather than cash (PIK) and mature in 2031. They are to be issued concurrently with the closing of the merger.

A first-quarter target that slipped by more than six months

When Evernorth was unveiled on Oct. 20, 2025, it said the transaction would raise more than $1 billion. Japan's SBI committed $200 million, and Ripple, Pantera Capital, Kraken, GSR and Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen were named among the investors. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, David Schwartz and others agreed to serve as strategic advisors. Birla is a former Ripple executive who helped build its cross-border payments business.

At the time, the company planned to close the deal in the first quarter of 2026, but its Form S-4 registration statement was not declared effective until Aug. 27, 2026. Armada II's shares have traded on Nasdaq as "XRPN" since Oct. 30, 2025, and Evernorth's common stock will take over the ticker after the merger. The company has said it plans to grow its XRP per share through institutional lending, liquidity provision and DeFi (decentralized finance) strategies rather than simply holding the token.

Korean prices 0.36% above overseas

At 7:31 a.m. KST on Oct. 2, XRP traded at 2,033 won on Upbit's Korean won market. Bithumb also showed 2,033 won. Binance quoted $1.494 at the same time, after a 24-hour range of $1.474 to $1.510. The kimchi premium (the gap between prices on Korean exchanges and global markets) stood at about 0.36% on Upbit.

At Upbit prices, the roughly 473 million XRP that Evernorth expects to hold after the merger is worth about 960 billion won. The funding rate on Binance's XRP perpetual futures (a fee exchanged between longs and shorts to keep futures in line with spot) was 0.01% at the same time.