Ripple’s longtime chief technologist David “JoelKatz” Schwartz has unveiled his first post-Ripple transfer, saying he’ll function a strategic advisor to Evernorth, an XRP-focused automobile led by former Ripple govt Asheesh Birla. “XRP neighborhood – I promised I’d have an replace on my subsequent journey quickly proper? Nicely right here’s the beginning: I’ll be a strategic advisor to Evernorth, helmed by my buddy Asheesh Birla,” Schwartz wrote, including that Evernorth was based “as a regulated, scalable funding automobile to faucet into alternatives for XRP in DeFi and capital markets, extending all the XRP ecosystem.” He closed with: “I’m excited to get began!”
The Outdated Ripple Connection
Schwartz’s announcement arrived alongside Evernorth’s personal reveal that it has signed a enterprise mixture settlement with Armada Acquisition Corp II to go public on Nasdaq. The mixed firm is “anticipated to commerce on Nasdaq below the ticker image ‘XRPN,’ topic to the satisfaction of the itemizing necessities,” with greater than $1 billion in gross proceeds focused, together with a $200 million dedication from Japan’s SBI. The discharge says internet proceeds will primarily fund open-market XRP purchases, positioning Evernorth as “the most important public XRP treasury firm.”
The Birla–Schwartz connection is longstanding. Birla joined Ripple in 2013 and rose to change into Normal Supervisor of RippleNet, the corporate’s cross-border funds enterprise, earlier than transferring to the corporate’s board in 2022. On the day he stepped again from his “day job”, Birla wrote: “After ~9 wonderful years I’ve determined to wrap up my day job at Ripple. Fortunately, I’m not going far as I be a part of the Board of Administrators.” In asserting Evernorth this week, Birla stated he’ll step down from Ripple’s board to steer the brand new enterprise.
Schwartz’s advisory function at Evernorth intersects along with his personal transition out of Ripple’s C-suite. Earlier this month, he disclosed that he’ll step down as Ripple’s Chief Know-how Officer at year-end after greater than a decade within the function, transferring to Ripple’s board and remaining energetic within the XRP Ledger neighborhood. He revealed that he needs to spend extra time with household whereas “not going away from the XRP neighborhood.”
Evernorth’s capital-markets blueprint is expansive. The corporate plans to make use of its battle chest to build up XRP and to “actively develop XRP per share over time” by lending to establishments, offering market liquidity and deploying capital into XRP-based DeFi methods.
The press launch outlines complementary ecosystem initiatives—operating XRPL validators, utilizing Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin as an on-ramp to XRP DeFi, and supporting tasks throughout funds, capital markets and tokenized property—framing Evernorth as each a treasury automobile and a growth catalyst. The corporate says Ripple will take part as a strategic investor, and that Ripple executives Brad Garlinghouse, Stuart Alderoty and David Schwartz are anticipated to function strategic advisors whereas Evernorth maintains unbiased governance.
For XRP’s institutional storyline, the structure issues. By concentrating on an alternate itemizing below “XRPN” and explicitly eschewing a passive ETF wrapper, Evernorth positions itself as an energetic, yield-generating public firm with a stability sheet anchored in XRP. If the deal secures shareholder and regulatory approvals, the events are aiming to shut within the first quarter of 2026, changing non-redeemed AACI Class A shares one-for-one into Evernorth shares at closing.
Schwartz’s phrasing—“right here’s the beginning”—reads like a deliberate inform that his Evernorth function is just the primary of a number of XRP-aligned ventures he plans to tackle following his CTO transition. He has already confirmed he’ll stay engaged with XRPL and Ripple on the board stage; right now’s advisory put up provides a capital-markets dimension to that presence.
At press time, XRP traded at $2.42.
Featured picture from YouTube, chart from TradingView.com
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