Evernorth taps ex-Coinbase executive to oversee 473M XRP

what happened

The Block reports that crypto treasury company Evernorth appointed Hugo Jeandesboz as its investment chief on Monday, ahead of its Nasdaq debut. Jeandesboz previously served as co-chief investment officer at Coinbase Asset Management. The move came after Evernorth completed its SPAC merger with Armada Acquisition Corp. II on Friday.

At the transaction close, Evernorth said it held 473 million XRP worth about $672 million, along with $300 million in cash before transaction expenses. Bitcoin Treasuries data puts the value of that XRP position just outside the 20 largest publicly traded corporate crypto holdings.

Reporting to founder and CEO Asheesh Birla, Jeandesboz will oversee treasury allocation, liquidity and active management of the XRP portfolio. At Coinbase, he developed investment strategies for institutional clients and earlier worked as the exchange’s lead derivatives trader. Evernorth plans to go beyond the buy-and-hold approach used by many crypto treasury firms by deploying XRP in lending, liquidity provision and other yield strategies to increase its XRP-per-share measure. Birla said these opportunities require someone who has priced risk on institutional desks across traditional and digital assets, adding: “We would rather be a participant in this transformation than a spectator of it.” The listing followed sharp moves in Armada II shares before the merger closed: the stock rose from about $10.68 over the previous two weeks to $53 on Oct. 2, ended Friday at $17.09 and reached $18.57 in after-hours trading.

why it matters

The appointment highlights Evernorth’s plan to actively use its XRP reserves rather than simply hold them. Its sizeable position and Armada II’s sharp swings add market focus around the Nasdaq listing.

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