TLDR

OceanPal Inc. closed a $120 million private investment to create SovereignAI, targeting 10% of NEAR Protocol’s token supply for its crypto treasury.
The shipping company hired Sal Ternullo from State Street as co-CEO and David Schwed from BNY Mellon as COO to lead the venture.
OP stock fell 20.91% to $1.74 after the announcement, extending year-to-date losses to 94%.
SovereignAI will develop AI infrastructure using NEAR blockchain and NVIDIA technology for enterprise applications.
Investment partners include Kraken, Proximity, Fabric Ventures, and G20 Group, with NEAR CEO joining the advisory board.

OceanPal Inc. secured $120 million through a private investment in public equity deal. The funds will launch SovereignAI Services LLC, a new subsidiary focused on NEAR Protocol.

The Nasdaq-listed company plans to acquire up to 10% of NEAR’s total token supply. This move transforms OceanPal into a public investment vehicle for cryptocurrency exposure.

The transaction drew backing from major crypto players. Kraken, Proximity, Fabric Ventures, and the G20 Group participated in the funding round.

OceanPal Inc., OP

OceanPal developed this strategy with the Near Foundation. The partnership centers on building what they describe as universal AI sovereignty infrastructure.

New Leadership and Strategic Direction

The company brought in experienced executives to manage the transition. Sal Ternullo, formerly of State Street, joined as co-CEO. David Schwed took the COO position after stints at BNY Mellon, Galaxy, and Robinhood.

Near Foundation CEO Illia Polosukhin will serve on the SovereignAI advisory board. He’ll be joined by Richard Muirhead from Fabric Ventures and Lukasz Kaiser from OpenAI.

SovereignAI plans to build confidential AI cloud infrastructure. The system will use NVIDIA technology running on NEAR’s blockchain network.

Near Protocol operates as a layer-1 blockchain supporting AI applications. The network enables AI agents to interact and manage assets autonomously across different platforms.

Ternullo explained the company’s vision in a statement. The goal is to provide privacy-first, regulatory compliant AI solutions for enterprise markets. Target sectors include finance, healthcare, and media.

Market Response and Financial Outlook

Investors reacted negatively to the announcement. OP stock closed at $1.74, down 20.91%. The decline adds to a difficult year, with shares down 94% year-to-date.

OceanPal’s core shipping business faces headwinds. June 2025 revenue hit $3.08 million, down 54.3% year-over-year. The company posted a net loss of $5.22 million with a profit margin of -169.53%.

Management stated shipping operations will continue alongside the digital asset strategy.

NEAR token prices also declined after the news. NEAR traded at $2.24, down 4.37% over 24 hours. The token has fallen 20.7% in the past month.

AI Agents and Crypto Integration

The timing reflects growing interest in AI agents within crypto markets. These autonomous systems can execute financial transactions without human oversight.

Recent data from Dune Analytics shows Coinbase’s AI-ready payments protocol saw transaction activity jump over 10,000% recently. The protocol launched in May to enable AI agents to send and receive stablecoins.

OceanPal positions itself as the leading public company for NEAR token exposure. SovereignAI will focus on infrastructure for agentic commerce applications using the NEAR Protocol.

The company aims to capitalize on enterprise demand for decentralized AI solutions. The infrastructure will support privacy-preserving applications while giving businesses control over their data.

The post OceanPal (OP) Stock: Shipping Company Invests $120M in NEAR Token Treasury appeared first on Blockonomi.

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Filed under: Bitcoin - @ October 29, 2025 12:26 pm