Asheesh Birla, CEO of Evernorth and former executive at Ripple, has shared new insights into the early architecture of the XRP Ledger (XRPL), describing the network’s built-in decentralized exchange as “magic.” Speaking at industry events and in recent interviews, Birla recalled how the early team worked from a humble office on Second Street in San Francisco during late 2013. The office lacked air conditioning, and employees hand-assembled their own desks to save capital while building what they termed the “Internet of Value.”
Birla, who previously helped scale Ripple to over 1,000 employees, is now leading Evernorth, a purpose-built digital asset treasury focused on the XRP token. The company is currently preparing to go public on the Nasdaq melalui a SPAC merger with Armada Acquisition Corp II (NASDAQ: XRPN), a deal expected to raise over $1 billion in gross proceeds. Birla’s recent reflections on the network’s history emphasize that the “magic” he witnessed in 2013—the ability to settle cross-asset transfers in seconds—remains the technological foundation for modern institutional finance.
As XRP speculative activity returns as buyers test major resistance, Birla suggests the asset is reaching a “1990s-style turning point.” He compared the current evolution of blockchain to the early 1990s, when electronic equity trading accounted for less than 15% of the market before achieving near-total dominance by 2009.
The Red Door Cafe and the $150 latte
One of the most notable anecdotes from Birla’s 2013 tenure involves a retail experiment at the Red Door Cafe, located near the original Ripple office. The team convinced the manager to accept payment in XRP when the token was valued at approximately $0.02.
Based on current market prices, Birla noted that a single latte from that era would now be worth between $120 and $150, a comparison he jokingly refers to as his “Bitcoin pizza” moment.
The experiment was intended to demonstrate the XRP Ledger’s capacity for instant value movement. Birla recalled using an early wallet to convert U.S. dollars into Bitcoin via the XRPL in a single step. This functionality, often overlooked by modern investors, is part of why Birla believes com/xrp-clarity-act-legislative-progress-analysis-2026/”>legislative progress and regulatory movement in Washington are so critical. He noted that within just ten days last month, U.S. regulators took steps the industry has awaited for a decade, providing the clarity necessary for banks to use the asset as working capital.
Institutionalizing the Ripple ecosystem with $1 billion
Evernorth is executing a $1 billion plan to institutionalize XRP, positioning itself as a major public treasury for the asset. The company has already secured significant backing, including a $200 million commitment from SBI Holdings, alongside support from Ripple, Pantera Capital, and Kraken.
Evernorth currently holds 473 million XRP on its balance sheet and intends to use the XRPL as a base layer for regulated DeFi products.
Birla maintains that technology accounts for roughly 25% of a blockchain’s success, while 50% depends on industry relationships. He credits the “plumbing” Ripple laid over the years—connecting with financial institutions globally—as the “connective tissue” that enables real-world utility. This focus on the underlying network arrives as investor sentiment shifts toward long-term digital asset holdings and institutional custody.
Bridging the gap between adoption and price
While the XRPL saw daily transactions nearing 3 million by March 20, 2026—nearing a triple of the 1 million daily transactions recorded in mid-2025—Birla addressed why the price often lags behind network growth. He argued that XRP is not yet a liquidity bridge “at scale.”
For sustained demand to drive valuation, he believes businesses must move beyond seeing the ledger as a technical tool and start leveraging it as active working capital.
Looking ahead, Evernorth intends to serve as an active steward of the ecosystem. The company aims to provide liquidity, support lending markets, and build an on-chain economy. Birla indicated that as the market matures, Evernorth will continue to tap into capital markets for further fundraises to expand its holdings, moving toward a future where the “magic” of 2013 becomes a standard for global value exchange.