Former Coinbase Investment Chief Hugo Jeandesboz to Manage Evernorth's 473 Million XRP Treasury

Evernorth Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: XRPN), a treasury company holding approximately 473 million XRP, the digital asset native to the XRP Ledger, at closing, has appointed Hugo Jeandesboz, a former Coinbase Asset Management executive, as its chief investment officer. The company announced the appointment on Oct. 12. The move places the company's digital asset treasury under a veteran of both crypto-native and traditional financial markets.

Jeandesboz reports to Evernorth founder and CEO Asheesh Birla and oversees the allocation, liquidity management, and active management of the company's XRP holdings. The position also makes him the senior point of contact for trading counterparties, the firms Evernorth transacts with, and the custodians that safeguard its assets.

Birla said: “Hugo brings distinct experience that aligns with our active treasury strategy.”

Jeandesboz brings more than a decade of institutional trading and portfolio management experience across digital and traditional markets. At Coinbase Asset Management, he served as co-chief investment officer and led tailored institutional strategies. Previously, he was lead derivatives trader at crypto exchange Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN), where he oversaw options, futures, and blockchain-based markets. Earlier roles included interest rate derivatives trading at HSBC and quantitative strategy at Societe Generale, where he used mathematical models and data to guide trading decisions.

473 Million XRP Supports an Active Treasury Model

Evernorth's XRP treasury entered the public markets through its completed merger with Armada Acquisition Corp. II on Oct. 9. Armada was a special purpose acquisition company formed to take another business public. At closing, Evernorth reported approximately 473 million XRP and about $300 million in gross cash proceeds before transaction expenses. Institutional and digital asset investors included Arrington Capital, SBI Group, Ripple, Pantera Capital, Kraken, and GSR — a roster spanning venture capital, financial services groups, and crypto trading and infrastructure firms.

Investors gained access to the business through Evernorth's Nasdaq trading debut under the ticker XRPN on Oct. 12, when its common stock began trading. Management intends to increase XRP per share through institutional and decentralized finance yield strategies, ecosystem participation, and capital markets activities. That plan under Jeandesboz's oversight of allocation, liquidity management, and active management. XRP per share measures token holdings relative to outstanding stock, making share issuance relevant alongside asset growth.

Buying Evernorth stock provides ownership in a company whose results depend on treasury decisions, financing, and operating performance. Owning cryptocurrency directly, by contrast, gives the holder the digital asset itself.

Evernorth Eyes XRP Lending and DeFi Opportunities

Birla linked the appointment to opportunities involving tokenized real-world assets — digital representations of financial or physical assets — and decentralized finance. The institutional lending framework for the XRP Ledger (XRPL) outlined by Ripple would separate borrower assessment from blockchain execution: credit decisions would take place outside the ledger, while loan servicing and repayments would occur on it.

Separately, banking infrastructure around the network expanded on Oct. 12 with Standard Chartered's custody support for RLUSD on the XRP Ledger. The service safeguards eligible institutions' Ripple USD (RLUSD) tokens — Ripple's US dollar-backed stablecoin, a digital asset separate from XRP. A planned collateral integration with Ripple and LMAX Group would let eligible holdings support trading while remaining in bank custody, subject to testing, documentation, and approvals. Together, the lending framework, bank custody, and planned collateral integration describe the institutional infrastructure taking shape around the ledger.

Jeandesboz also outlined his priorities for the business as it begins operating as a publicly traded company. He stated: “The financial system is being rebuilt on programmable rails, and the XRP Ledger is becoming infrastructure where institutional capital can operate. Evernorth brings capital and public-market discipline to that shift at an early stage, and I look forward to building a treasury operation equal to the opportunity ahead.”

Share Issuance Correction

Alongside the appointment, Evernorth corrected the number of Class A shares issued to delayed-funding subscribers at closing. The company reported 1,078,614 shares, replacing the 663,510 figure in its post-closing securities filing, which it attributed to a clerical error. The corrected issuance equaled the aggregate subscription amount, contributed in cash or XRP, divided by $10 per share. The correction matters for the company's stated growth measure: XRP per share depends on shares outstanding, so tracking it accurately requires the correct count.