Nasdaq-listed company OceanPal Inc. has raised $120 million through private equity investment to launch SovereignAI, a new subsidiary focused on the commercialization of the NEAR protocol and the development of AI infrastructure.
According to an announcement on Tuesday, SovereignAI will implement a crypto treasury strategy, planning to acquire up to 10% of the NEAR token supply. This initiative is developed in collaboration with the NEAR Foundation, making OceanPal a public investment vehicle for exposure to the native tokens of this crypto protocol.
OceanPal stated that the partnership with the NEAR Foundation is based on a shared vision of "general AI sovereignty."
Launched in 2020, NEAR is a layer-one blockchain that supports AI applications, allowing AI agents to interact across the network, manage assets, and operate securely, according to the project's website.
The announcement coincides with leadership changes at OceanPal, as the company appointed former State Street executive Sal Ternullo as co-CEO and David Schwed, who has worked at BNY Mellon, Galaxy, and Robinhood, as Chief Operating Officer.
Meanwhile, NEAR Foundation co-founder and CEO Illia Polosukhin will join the advisory board of SovereignAI, with other members including Richard Muirhead from Fabric Ventures and Lukasz Kaiser from OpenAI.
AI agents—autonomous systems capable of perceiving, deciding, and acting without human input—are increasingly merging with cryptocurrency, using blockchain networks to manage assets, validate actions, and operate as autonomous economic participants.
In September, Coinbase's head of institutional strategy, John D'Agostino, stated on CNBC's Squawk Box that AI agents need cryptocurrency to operate effectively in financial markets.
In the same month, global cloud infrastructure company Cloudflare announced plans to launch a new stablecoin called NET Dollar to support instant transactions triggered by AI agents.
Recent data from Dune Analytics shows that the AI-ready payment protocol launched by Coinbase in May has seen a trading activity surge of over 10,000% in the past month, enabling autonomous agents to send and receive stablecoins online.
These figures emerged after two Coinbase developers stated in August that AI agents are "about to become Ethereum's largest superuser."
Related: Musk launches AI-driven "truth" encyclopedia Grokipedia
Original article: “OceanPal Raises $120 Million to Build NEAR Token Treasury Company”
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