Nasdaq-listed company OceanPal bets $120 million on NEAR to enter the AI field, but its stock price has big dump by 20%?

NASDAQ-listed shipping company OceanPal Inc. announced it has raised $120 million through a private sale to launch a digital asset reserve strategy via its subsidiary SovereignAI, with its core bet on the NEAR Protocol. The strategy aims to acquire at least 10% of the total supply of NEAR tokens and plans to use the funds to develop confidential artificial intelligence cloud infrastructure based on NEAR and NVIDIA technology. Despite support from notable investors including Fabric Ventures and G20 Group, OceanPal's stock price fell 20.91% to $1.74 after the announcement, highlighting market skepticism about traditional companies' strategic transformations.

Traditional Shipping Giants' Major Transformation: OceanPal Invests Heavily in NEAR Protocol and AI

OceanPal Inc. is undergoing a bold strategic transformation, making a significant entry into the digital asset and artificial intelligence sectors from its traditional global shipping business. This NASDAQ-listed company announced the completion of a $120 million public equity private sale (PIPE), with all funds allocated to its newly established subsidiary SovereignAI Services LLC, which will focus on the commercialization and development of NEAR Protocol. This move makes OceanPal the latest traditional enterprise seeking asset diversification and shifting towards blockchain-related holdings.

SovereignAI's ambition: to become one of the largest institutional holders of NEAR Token.

The core goal of SovereignAI is to establish a reserve of digital assets centered around the native token of the NEAR Protocol. According to the press release, SovereignAI plans to acquire at least 10% of the total supply of NEAR tokens, which will make it one of the major institutional holders of NEAR.

• Vertically integrated AI infrastructure: SovereignAI is expected to leverage the capital generated from its reserve strategy to develop a confidential AI cloud infrastructure based on NVIDIA technology and powered by NEAR.
• Institutional Endorsement: This transaction has received support from several well-known investors, including Kraken, Proximity, Fabric Ventures, and G20 Group, enhancing the authority of the project.
• Executive Appointment: The company has also appointed new executives, including Co-CEO Sal Ternullo and COO David Schwed, as well as an advisory committee of industry experts such as NEAR CEO Illia Polosukhin, to strengthen its digital asset business.
• Strategic Vision: Co-CEO Ternullo stated that they plan to leverage this decentralized, confidential computing infrastructure to capture the explosive demand for privacy-first, regulatory-compliant AI in enterprise markets such as finance, healthcare, and media.

The market reaction is polarized: OceanPal's stock price plummets, and NEAR's price is under pressure.

Despite the strategic transformation of OceanPal being supported by heavyweight participants in the crypto industry, its stock price has encountered a Waterloo. According to data from Google Finance, after the release of this heavyweight news, OceanPal (OP)'s stock price closed down 20.91%, reported at $1.74. Considering that the company has fallen 94% year-to-date, and the net loss reached $5.22 million with a profit margin of -169.53% as of June 2025, the market is clearly highly skeptical of its risks in crossing into the blockchain and AI fields.

At the same time, NEAR Protocol's native Token NEAR is also facing market headwinds. As of this writing, NEAR is trading at approximately $2.24, down 4.37% in the last 24 hours and down 20.7% over the past month. With both OceanPal and NEAR facing market challenges, it remains to be seen whether this ambitious blockchain-driven AI strategy can successfully achieve its goals.

Conclusion

OceanPal, with a massive investment of 120 million USD and the support of well-known crypto institutions, is making a high-profile entry into the NEAR Protocol ecosystem and AI infrastructure, serving as another testament to traditional enterprises embracing the trend of digital assets. However, the significant fall in its stock price reflects traditional market investors' cautious attitude towards high-risk transformations across industries. The success of this transaction depends not only on NEAR's technological development but also on whether OceanPal can effectively execute its complex digital asset reserve and AI commercialization strategy amidst ongoing challenges in its shipping business.