**OceanPal Inc. Raises $120 Million to Launch SovereignAI, Targeting NEAR Protocol Tokens and AI Infrastructure**
OceanPal Inc., a Nasdaq-listed shipping company, has completed a $120 million private investment in public equity (PIPE) deal to fund its new cryptocurrency venture. The company announced the launch of SovereignAI Services LLC, a subsidiary dedicated to commercializing the NEAR Protocol blockchain and acquiring up to 10% of NEAR’s total token supply. This move positions SovereignAI as one of the largest institutional holders of the NEAR token and marks a strategic shift for OceanPal from traditional shipping into digital assets and AI infrastructure.
**Key Executive Appointments**
Alongside the announcement, OceanPal named former State Street executive Sal Ternullo as co-CEO. David Schwed, with prior experience at BNY Mellon, Galaxy, and Robinhood, was appointed chief operating officer. Adding to the leadership strength, Illia Polosukhin, co-founder and CEO of the NEAR Foundation, will serve on SovereignAI’s advisory board. Other notable advisors include Richard Muirhead from Fabric Ventures and Lukasz Kaiser from OpenAI.
**Partnership with NEAR Foundation and Major Investors**
The capital raise was backed by prominent investors such as Kraken, Proximity, Fabric Ventures, and the G20 Group. The partnership with the NEAR Foundation is central to OceanPal’s vision of “universal AI sovereignty,” aiming to harness decentralized AI and blockchain technologies.
**Building Privacy-Preserving AI Infrastructure**
SovereignAI plans to develop a confidential AI cloud infrastructure leveraging NVIDIA technology, built on the NEAR blockchain network. Launched in 2020, NEAR Protocol is a layer-1 blockchain designed to support AI applications. Its network enables AI agents to interact, manage assets, and operate autonomously across various systems.
Co-CEO Sal Ternullo emphasized, “This is a public company launching as an active, strategic partner with the NEAR Foundation.” The company’s goal is to utilize decentralized compute infrastructure for privacy-first AI applications targeting sectors such as finance, healthcare, and media.
**Market Context and Significance**
The timing corresponds with a surge in interest around AI agents within the crypto space. These autonomous systems can independently make decisions and manage assets. For example, Coinbase’s AI-ready payments protocol reportedly experienced over a 10,000% increase in transaction activity recently, according to Dune Analytics.
**Stock Performance and Financial Overview**
Following the announcement, OceanPal’s stock price dropped 20.91%, closing at $1.74. The stock has experienced a 94% decline year-to-date. Financially, the company reported revenue of $3.08 million for June 2025, down 54.3% compared to the prior year. Net losses reached $5.22 million, resulting in a negative profit margin of -169.53%.
Despite these challenges, OceanPal affirmed it will continue its global shipping operations alongside its new digital asset and AI strategy.
**NEAR Token Market Reaction**
NEAR Protocol’s native token also declined post-announcement, trading at $2.24—a 4.37% drop over 24 hours and a 20.7% fall over the past month.
**Outlook**
The collaboration between OceanPal and the NEAR Foundation sets the stage for OceanPal to become “the leading public investment vehicle to gain exposure to NEAR.” SovereignAI aims not only at managing a substantial NEAR token treasury but also at creating foundational AI infrastructure for emerging “agentic commerce” applications that leverage autonomous AI agents in various markets.
—
*OceanPal’s strategic pivot into blockchain and AI represents a bold attempt to blend traditional industries with cutting-edge technology, positioning itself for participation in the rapidly evolving crypto and AI ecosystems.*
https://coincentral.com/oceanpal-op-stock-shipping-firm-raises-120m-for-near-protocol-treasury-strategy/
About the Author
