$1 Billion XRP Catalyst: Five XRPL Upgrades Signal Major Shift

Recently, news emerged about the launch of Evernorth, a new crypto venture backed by Ripple, expected to raise more than $1 billion in proceeds. The transaction, expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, will create the largest publicly traded XRP treasury company.

The digital asset treasury will not only focus on accumulating XRP but also toward the broad advancement of the XRP Ledger ecosystem.

Evernorth plans to offer investors exposure to XRP through a publicly listed vehicle. Different from a passive ETF, Evernorth would increase its XRP per share over time through institutional lending, liquidity provisioning and DeFi (decentralized finance) yield opportunities.

Evernorth also plans to expand DeFi integration, which will utilize Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin as an on-ramp into XRP-based decentralized finance. This move is expected to enhance yield potential and broader use of XRP as collateral.

$1 billion catalyst: XRP Ledger upgrades in spotlight

The news of Evernorth's launch triggered excitement in the XRP and crypto community. Vet, an XRPL dUNL validator, breaks down what Evernorth's $1 billion push means for the XRP Ledger ecosystem.

Vet draws attention to a few XRP Ledger upgrades set to trigger a major shift alongside the recent $1 billion catalyst by Evernorth.

As regards institutional lending, Vet highlighted XLS-65 and XLS-66, which bring vaults and a lending protocol natively to the XRP Ledger, noting that this presents an opportunity for Evernorth to borrow against the $1 billion fund, earning yield as a result.

Evernorth would also have access to compliance tools, with the spotlight on amendments such as Decentralized Identity, Credentials and upcoming Permissioned Domain and DEX, which can be combined with the lending protocol.

Also, upcoming on-chain privacy for the XRPL for covered balances and private transfers of MPTs will aid in institutional onboarding.