This week, we dive into the fascinating intersection of crypto, AI, and traditional public markets with Sal Ternullo, Co-Founder and CEO of SovereignAI ($OP / $SVRN).

Sovereign AI is setting out to acquire a substantial treasury of NEAR Protocol tokens and is bringing institutional finance rigor to the space. Sal breaks down their unique strategy, which includes:

• Public Listing: Bridging the gap between the NEAR token and NASDAQ investors.

• Active Options Management: Utilizing advanced options strategies—specifically selling puts to optimize accumulation and potentially selling calls—to generate yield and manage risk on their core NEAR holding.

• Counterparty Risk: How they are actively managing risk across multiple Tier 1 venues in a way that differs from standard, single-threaded asset managers.

Also Covered:

We recap the market action, including the significant drop in Bitcoin and Ether prices, which has driven volatility higher and skew sharply to the downside. Plus, a look at the explosive volume in IBIT options and the latest wild moves in crypto mining stocks like Mara and ETHZilla.