By partnering with the NEAR Foundation, the goal of the initiative is to acquire up to 10% of NEAR’s token supply and advance the concept of “universal AI sovereignty.” The move also brings new leadership, including former State Street executive Sal Ternullo as co-CEO and Illia Polosukhin of NEAR joining the advisory board.
OceanPal Launches SovereignAI
Nasdaq-listed OceanPal Inc. raised $120 million through a private investment in public equity (PIPE) deal to launch a new subsidiary called SovereignAI, which goal is to commercialize the NEAR Protocol and develop artificial intelligence infrastructure. The company revealed on Tuesday that SovereignAI will also adopt a crypto treasury strategy, with plans to acquire up to 10% of the total NEAR token supply.
The initiative is being developed in partnership with the NEAR Foundation and is a major move toward integrating blockchain and artificial intelligence technologies under the concept of “universal AI sovereignty.”
Announcement from OceanPal
NEAR is a layer-1 blockchain that supports decentralized AI applications by enabling AI agents to interact, manage assets, and operate autonomously across different networks. This collaboration positions OceanPal as a public market vehicle for exposure to NEAR’s native token while also aligning both organizations around the shared goal of advancing open, interoperable AI infrastructure.
Alongside the announcement, OceanPal introduced key leadership changes to steer the new venture. Former State Street executive Sal Ternullo was appointed co-CEO, while David Schwed, who previously held senior roles at BNY Mellon, Galaxy, and Robinhood, was named chief operating officer. NEAR Foundation co-founder and CEO Illia Polosukhin will join the SovereignAI advisory board, alongside other people from the industry like Richard Muirhead of Fabric Ventures and OpenAI researcher Lukasz Kaiser.
The launch of SovereignAI comes at a time when the crypto and AI sectors are increasingly intertwined. AI agents are now leveraging blockchain technology to securely manage assets, verify on-chain actions, and function as self-governing economic participants.
Coinbase’s head of institutional strategy, John D’Agostino, recently said that cryptocurrency is essential for enabling AI agents to operate efficiently in financial markets. Supporting this trend, Cloudflare announced plans to launch its own stablecoin, NET Dollar, to facilitate instant AI-triggered transactions, while Coinbase’s AI-ready payments protocol saw its transaction volume soar over 10,000% in the past month.
Overall, it is becoming clear that there is a growing convergence between AI and blockchain as companies race to define the future of autonomous digital economies.
