OceanPal (OP) Makes Waves: $120M Treasury Bet on NEAR Protocol Signals Crypto Shipping Play

Shipping giant OceanPal just dropped anchor in crypto waters—raising $120 million to fuel a NEAR Protocol treasury strategy. Here’s why traditional finance should brace for turbulence.

From Bulk Carriers to Blockchain

OP’s pivot from shipping containers to digital assets isn’t just a diversification play—it’s a full-scale invasion. That $120M war chest? Deployed straight into NEAR’s proof-of-stake ecosystem, bypassing Wall Street’s usual gatekeepers.

The NEAR Factor

With transaction speeds leaving Ethereum in the wake, NEAR’s sharding tech offers OP a lifeline to modernize treasury ops. No more waiting for block confirmations while cargo ships idle in port.

Wall Street’s Cold Sweat

Another blue-chip flirting with DeFi—proving yield-hungry corporates would rather trust smart contracts than their own CFOs. Bonus jab: Someone tell OP’s auditors about ‘volatility’ before they need smelling salts.

TLDR

• OceanPal Inc. raised $120 million through a private investment deal to launch SovereignAI, a subsidiary focused on acquiring up to 10% of NEAR Protocol’s token supply.
• The Nasdaq-listed shipping company appointed former State Street executive Sal Ternullo as co-CEO and David Schwed, previously with BNY Mellon and Galaxy, as chief operating officer.
• OceanPal’s stock price dropped 20.91% to $1.74 following the announcement, with shares down 94% year-to-date.
• The company plans to build privacy-preserving AI infrastructure using NEAR’s blockchain and NVIDIA technology while continuing global shipping operations.
• Major investors in the transaction include Kraken, Proximity, Fabric Ventures, and the G20 Group, with NEAR Foundation CEO Illia Polosukhin joining the advisory board.

OceanPal Inc. completed a $120 million private investment in public equity deal to fund its new cryptocurrency venture. The Nasdaq-listed shipping company closed the transaction to launch SovereignAI Services LLC, a subsidiary dedicated to commercializing the NEAR Protocol.

OceanPal Inc., OP

The capital will fund a crypto treasury strategy targeting at least 10% of NEAR’s total token supply. This makes SovereignAI one of the largest institutional holders of the NEAR token.

The deal marks a shift for the traditional shipping company into digital assets and AI infrastructure. OceanPal developed the strategy in partnership with the NEAR Foundation, based on what they call a vision of “universal AI sovereignty.”

"We believe NEAR presents the greatest asymmetric upside across mature projects in the digital asset market, which we aim to capture and offer to our shareholders" – OceanPal's Co-CEO, @sal_ternullo

We are excited to be working with the @svrn_ai team. https://t.co/Omj9nOEKaB pic.twitter.com/pffnm7knRL

— NEAR Protocol (@NEARProtocol) October 28, 2025

Major investors backed the transaction. Kraken, Proximity, Fabric Ventures, and the G20 Group participated in the funding round.

The company announced new executive appointments alongside the deal. Former State Street executive Sal Ternullo joined as co-CEO. David Schwed, who previously worked at BNY Mellon, Galaxy, and Robinhood, became chief operating officer.

Near Foundation co-founder and CEO Illia Polosukhin will serve on the SovereignAI advisory board. Other advisors include Richard Muirhead from Fabric Ventures and Lukasz Kaiser from OpenAI.

Building AI Infrastructure on NEAR

SovereignAI plans to develop a confidential AI cloud infrastructure using Nvidia technology. The infrastructure will run on NEAR’s blockchain network.

Near Protocol launched in 2020 as a layer-1 blockchain supporting AI applications. The network allows AI agents to interact, manage assets, and operate across different systems.

Ternullo outlined the company’s plans in a statement. “This is a public company launching as an active, strategic partner with the NEAR Foundation,” he said. The goal is to use decentralized compute infrastructure for privacy-first AI applications in finance, healthcare, and media markets.

The timing aligns with growing interest in AI agents within crypto. These autonomous systems can make decisions and manage assets without human input. Coinbase’s AI-ready payments protocol saw transaction activity surge over 10,000% in recent months, according to Dune Analytics data.

Stock and Financial Performance

OceanPal’s stock price fell following the announcement. Shares closed at $1.74, down 20.91% for the day. The stock has declined 94% year-to-date.

The company’s recent financial results show challenges in its Core shipping business. Revenue for June 2025 was $3.08 million, down 54.3% compared to the previous year. The net loss reached $5.22 million with a profit margin of -169.53%.

OceanPal stated that global shipping operations will continue alongside the new digital asset strategy.

NEAR Protocol’s token also declined following the announcement. NEAR traded at $2.24, down 4.37% over 24 hours. The token has dropped 20.7% over the past month.

The partnership between OceanPal and the Near Foundation positions the company as what it calls “the leading public investment vehicle to gain exposure to NEAR.” SovereignAI will also focus on building foundational AI infrastructure for what the company describes as agentic commerce applications.