OceanPal’s Ambitious Move into Crypto-AI Encounters Swift Negative Reaction from the Market
- OceanPal raised $120M via PIPE to launch SovereignAI, targeting NEAR Protocol commercialization and AI infrastructure development. - Funds will acquire up to 10% of NEAR tokens and build privacy-preserving AI systems using NVIDIA tech, aligning with NEAR's "universal AI sovereignty" vision. - Despite strategic partnerships and leadership changes (e.g., ex-Robinhood COO David Schwed), OceanPal's stock dropped 21% post-announcement, mirroring NEAR's 4.37% token price decline. - The move faces execution ris
OceanPal Inc. has secured $120 million via a private investment in public equity (PIPE) arrangement to establish SovereignAI, a new subsidiary dedicated to advancing the NEAR Protocol and building AI infrastructure, as reported by
SovereignAI’s approach goes beyond simply holding tokens, aiming to generate returns from its assets to support the creation of confidential, blockchain-native AI cloud services, MarketScreener further explained. The project is in line with the NEAR Foundation’s goal of achieving “universal AI sovereignty,” which allows AI agents to function independently while safeguarding user data and privacy, according to
The collaboration with the NEAR Foundation also resulted in changes to the executive team, including the appointment of David Schwed as chief operating officer, who was previously Robinhood’s chief information security officer, Splash247 reported. Schwed emphasized SovereignAI’s mission to promote “user-owned, privacy-focused AI at scale,” leveraging NEAR’s infrastructure to support secure and decentralized transactions, as per MarketScreener. The advisory board features Illia Polosukhin, NEAR’s co-founder, along with representatives from OpenAI, Fabric Ventures, and Quicknode, The Block mentioned.
Despite this strategic shift, OceanPal’s shares dropped by nearly 21% after the news broke, according to BeInCrypto. The company posted a net loss of $5.22 million for the first half of 2025, with revenue falling 54.3% compared to the previous year, BeInCrypto also reported. At the same time, NEAR’s token price fell 4.37% in a single day, trading at $2.24, based on the same BeInCrypto report. Analysts indicate that institutional interest in NEAR remains robust, fueled by its advanced AI features and chain abstraction, as stated by
SovereignAI’s goals mirror a larger movement toward integrating blockchain and AI, with firms like Cloudflare and Coinbase also investigating AI-powered financial solutions, according to
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
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