Uphold has listed Evernorth Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: XRPN) on its equities trading platform, announced following the company's October 12 Nasdaq debut. The listing gives eligible U.S. investors access to a publicly traded vehicle that accumulates and manages XRP holdings.
Evernorth entered public markets through a combination with Armada Acquisition Corp. II, a special purpose acquisition company formed to take businesses public via merger. The transaction closed on October 9 after shareholders approved it on September 30. At merger completion, Evernorth held approximately 473 million XRP and had raised approximately $300 million in gross cash proceeds before transaction expenses.
Trading and Investment Structure
Uphold's U.S. equities service offers more than 4,000 stocks and exchange-traded funds, with fractional investments starting at $5. Users can purchase shares using cash or cryptocurrency converted into dollars. Uphold Securities Inc., a registered broker-dealer, provides the securities, while Apex Clearing Corp. holds them and settles trades.
Buying XRPN provides ownership in Evernorth's business operations and treasury management decisions, distinct from holding XRP tokens directly, which can be transferred to personal wallets.
Backers and Treasury Strategy
Evernorth's backers include digital asset investment firms Arrington Capital and Pantera Capital, Japanese financial services company SBI Group, Ripple, Kraken, and GSR, a cryptocurrency trading firm and liquidity provider.
Management named Ripple, Kraken, Coinbase, and Bitgo as initial execution partners for institutional treasury strategies, with deployment planned to begin in the fourth quarter. Partnership agreements remain subject to customary closing conditions and required regulatory and corporate approvals.
The company plans to increase XRP per share through further accumulation and earnings from existing holdings. Initial activities would involve established financial and cryptocurrency firms under oversight of Evernorth's investment and risk team. A later phase would allocate capital to decentralized finance applications on the XRP Ledger once native lending capabilities are activated by validators and proven on the live network.
