TON Treasury Files $420.69M Shelf Registration to Fuel Telegram AI and Ecosystem Investments

AlphaTON Capital Corp (ticker ATON), a Nasdaq-listed firm acting as a treasury for The Open Network (TON), has filed a $420.69 million shelf registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The funding, a figure reminiscent of FTX's infamous "meme round," is earmarked for an ambitious expansion into AI infrastructure and mergers & acquisitions within the Telegram ecosystem.

The capital will specifically finance AlphaTON's deployment of high-performance computing infrastructure to power Telegram's Cocoon AI network, a decentralized compute platform built on the TON blockchain that pays users in Toncoin for renting out their GPUs. Additionally, the funds will support AlphaTON's M&A strategy, targeting "revenue-producing companies" focused on payments, content distribution, and blockchain services within TON. The firm noted it has already identified several "high-potential acquisition targets."

CEO Brittany Kaiser stated that exiting the SEC's "baby shelf" limitations, which previously constrained how much capital the smaller public company could raise, "marks an important milestone in AlphaTON Capital's transformation into a leading infrastructure provider for the next generation of decentralized AI." The shelf registration provides the firm with financing flexibility to act on "transformational opportunities."

The capital will also be used to build AlphaTON's treasury of TON tokens and other digital assets. This follows a strategic shift in November, when the firm moved most of its balance sheet into Toncoin and staking positions. AlphaTON has been active in the ecosystem, amending a deal to acquire 60% of mobile gaming platform GAMEE for $15 million and planning to purchase up to $4 million in GMEE and Watcoin tokens on the open market. It also plans to launch a co-branded TON Mastercard in December through partnerships with PagoPay and ALT5 Sigma.

The Open Network, a community-led project that emerged after Telegram abandoned its own Layer 1 development, has gained significant traction, particularly for its "mini app" games like Notcoin and Hamster Kombat. Earlier this year, the TON Foundation announced over $400 million in investments into Toncoin from venture capital firms including Benchmark, CoinFund, and Sequoia Capital.

AlphaTON's ATON stock closed up over 7.5% on the news, trading at $1.71. Toncoin, however, is trading at $1.80, down nearly 80% from its all-time high of $8.25.