Evernorth plans to put its XRP holdings to work on the XRP Ledger if a proposed native lending protocol clears validator review, linking the company’s digital-asset treasury strategy to one of the network’s most consequential pending upgrades.
Sagar Shah, Evernorth’s chief business officer, said at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium 2026 that the company does not intend to hold XRP solely as a balance-sheet asset. Instead, it is preparing to deploy holdings within the XRP Ledger ecosystem as lending and other financial tools become available on the network.
The strategy depends in part on XLS-66, a proposal intended to introduce lending functions at the XRP Ledger protocol layer. Validators are reviewing the code and testing its resilience before the amendment can progress through the network’s governance process.
For Evernorth, native lending would create a potential use for XRP reserves beyond directional exposure to the token’s market price. Treasury companies holding large crypto balances have often faced a choice between keeping assets liquid but idle, or seeking returns through third-party platforms that introduce counterparty and custody risks. A protocol-level lending system could give firms another option, though its eventual structure, adoption and risk controls will depend on the version validators approve.
Lending proposal remains under validator review
XLS-66 is being assessed by XRP Ledger validators, which must determine whether the proposal is technically sound and safe enough for network adoption. Amendments on the XRP Ledger generally require sustained validator support before activation, a process designed to prevent major protocol changes from being introduced through a single corporate decision.
Shah did not provide a timetable for Evernorth’s planned deployment or specify how much XRP the company expects to allocate. He also did not outline loan terms, prospective counterparties, collateral arrangements, or whether Evernorth would act principally as a lender, borrower, liquidity provider, or some combination of those roles.
Those details will shape how much practical demand a new lending feature creates. Native credit markets can make token holdings more productive, but they also require reliable mechanisms for collateral management, liquidation, interest calculations and credit risk. The degree to which XLS-66 addresses those questions will determine whether it appeals mainly to crypto-native participants or can support larger financial institutions.
Shah’s comments place Evernorth among companies seeking to turn digital-asset treasuries into active ecosystem capital. That approach differs from a passive reserve model, where a company’s relationship with a network is primarily determined by the price of the token it holds.
Public listing plans add pressure for a clearer treasury strategy
Evernorth is also working through the process of going public, Shah said during the symposium. A public-market path would likely place more attention on how the company manages its XRP holdings, including liquidity, volatility, custody and the controls governing any on-chain deployment.
For a firm built around a single network asset, the case for active treasury management is straightforward: lending, market infrastructure and tokenized-asset settlement could generate uses for XRP that are tied to network activity rather than only trading flows. The challenge is that the same activities can expose a treasury to smart-contract risk, borrower defaults and sudden changes in on-chain liquidity.
The XRP Ledger’s proposed lending model would therefore need to offer more than an additional yield mechanism. Institutions considering public blockchain credit would need confidence that the system’s rules are transparent, enforceable and compatible with their internal risk frameworks.
Shah previously spent five years at Ripple, the company closely associated with the XRP Ledger ecosystem. His remarks focused on the network’s potential role in tokenized real-world assets, where conventional instruments such as funds, bonds, receivables or other financial claims are represented on a blockchain.
Tokenization ambitions extend beyond lending
Shah identified confidential transfers and smart escrows as XRP Ledger features that could support tokenized assets. Confidential transfer technology is generally intended to limit the public visibility of transaction details, while smart escrow functions can release assets only when defined conditions are met.
Those tools address practical concerns for institutions that may want blockchain settlement without publicly revealing every payment amount or trading relationship. A lender, for example, may require collateral to remain visible and enforceable within a protocol while preserving commercially sensitive information from the broader market.
Shah cited figures placing currently tokenized assets at roughly $30 billion and argued that the addressable market could eventually reach trillions of dollars. The estimate reflects a commonly cited expectation that tokenization could expand from early fund, bond and treasury products into a larger range of financial assets, although growth will depend on legal recognition, market infrastructure and institutional demand.
The XRP Ledger already has payment and token issuance capabilities, but native lending would add a credit layer to that infrastructure. In practical terms, that could allow assets issued or settled on the ledger to be used in financing arrangements without requiring every participant to move funds to an external protocol.
Adoption will depend on utility, not the amendment vote alone
An approved amendment would not automatically create a deep lending market. Liquidity providers, borrowers, risk managers and asset issuers would all need reasons to use it, while participants would need to assess how lending activity interacts with XRP price volatility and collateral requirements.
Evernorth’s stated intention to deploy its holdings could provide an early test of whether large XRP treasuries are prepared to become active participants in the network’s financial infrastructure. Its plans also show how the XRP Ledger’s next phase may be judged less by technical announcements than by whether companies can use its features for recurring financial activity.
For now, XLS-66 remains in review, and Evernorth’s proposed on-chain deployment remains contingent on the lending framework reaching a form that validators and market participants are willing to support.
Explore how XRP fits into broader tokenization trends in 2026—read this in-depth analysis next.
Disclaimer: The content on this page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not represent the views or financial advice of Toobit. We make no guarantees regarding the accuracy or completeness of this information and shall not be held liable for any errors, omissions, or outcomes resulting from its use. Investing in digital assets involves risk; users should independently evaluate their financial situation and the risks involved. For further details, please consult our Terms of Service and Risk Disclosure.
