NEAR Protocol

Nasdaq-listed OceanPal Inc. raised $120 million through a private investment in public equity deal to launch SovereignAI, a subsidiary focused on commercializing the Near Protocol and developing AI infrastructure.According to a Tuesday <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oceanpal-in-partnership-with-near-foundation-announces-120m-pipe-investment-to-launch-sovereignai-to-buildout-near-powered-ai-infrastructure-302596832.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">announcement</a>, SovereignAI will implement a crypto treasury strategy, with plans to acquire up to 10% of the Near (NEAR) token supply. The move, developed in partnership with the Near Foundation, makes OceanPal a public vehicle for exposure to the crypto protocol’s native token.OceapPal said the partnership with the Near Foundation is based on a shared vision of “universal AI sovereignty.”Launched in 2020, Near is a layer-1 blockchain supporting AI applications, allowing AI agents to interact, manage assets and operate securely across networks, <a href="https://www.near.org/ai" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">according</a> to the project’s website.The announcement coincides with a leadership shift at OceanPal, which appointed former State Street executive Sal Ternullo as co-CEO and David Schwed, previously with BNY Mellon, Galaxy and Robinhood, as chief operating officer.Meanwhile, Near Foundation co-founder and CEO Illia Polosukhin will join the SovereignAI advisory board alongside Richard Muirhead of Fabric Ventures and Lukasz Kaiser of OpenAI, among others.Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/openai-public-benefit-corporation-microsoft-stake-135b-azure-deal" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">OpenAI restructures as public benefit corporation, Microsoft secures 27% stake</a><h2 id="the-rise-of-ai-agents-in-crypto">The rise of AI agents in crypto</h2>AI agents — <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/future-own-their-ai" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">autonomous systems that can perceive</a>, decide and act without human input — are increasingly merging with crypto, using blockchain networks to manage assets, verify actions and operate as self-governing economic participants.In September, John D’Agostino, the head of institutional strategy at Coinbase, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_ev8uZ_RfA" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">told</a> CNBC’s Squawk Box that <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/ai-agents-need-crypto-to-work-in-markets-coinbase-exec" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">cryptocurrency is needed for AI agents</a> to operate effectively in financial markets.The same month, Cloudflare, a global cloud infrastructure company, announced plans to launch a <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/cloudflare-plans-net-dollar-stablecoin-ai-driven-payments" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">new stablecoin called NET Dollar</a> to support instant transactions triggered by AI agents.Recent <a href="https://dune.com/obchakevich/x402" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">data</a> from Dune Analytics revealed that Coinbase’s AI-ready payments protocol, launched in May to let <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/coinbases-x402-transactions-rise-10000-percent" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">autonomous agents send and receive stablecoins</a> online, had seen transaction activity surge over 10,000% in the past month.Those numbers came after two Coinbase developers said in August that AI agents are “about to become <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/ai-agents-ethereums-biggest-power-user" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Ethereum’s biggest power users</a>.”<figure><img alt="Coinbase, Near Protocol" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-10/019a2c8a-19ad-78c4-8249-e1773e99fbc2" title=""><figcaption style="text-align: center;">Source: <a href="https://x.com/ethereum/status/1955673872378028306" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Ethereum Foundation</a></figcaption></figure>Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/build-your-own-ai-agent-coinbase-base-jesse-pollak-x-hall-of-flame/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">You should ‘go and build’ your own AI agent: Jesse Pollak, X Hall of Flame</a>

OceanPal raises $120M to build NEAR token treasury company

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