AlphaTON Capital is making a bold move into digital assets, anchoring its entire corporate treasury strategy around Toncoin (TON), the native cryptocurrency of The Open Network. The company, formerly known as Portage Biotech Inc., announced on Sept. 3 that it had secured $38.2 million in a private placement and a $35 million collateralized loan from BitGo Prime to support the plan.
AlphaTON CapitalThe funds will go toward acquiring roughly $100 million in Toncoin, a purchase expected to close around Sept. 5. At the same time, the firm will officially change its Nasdaq ticker from PRTG to ATON and welcome Brittany Kaiser—best known as a data rights advocate and crypto thought leader—as its new CEO.
Why Toncoin?
AlphaTON said its Toncoin strategy is rooted in the network’s close ties with Telegram, which has more than one billion monthly active users. The company views TON not just as an investment, but as a platform with a built-in on-ramp for mainstream Web3 adoption.
The plan goes beyond holding crypto on the balance sheet. AlphaTON intends to:
- Participate in validation and staking, generating yield while reinforcing the TON network’s security.
- Incubate TON-based applications within the Telegram ecosystem, ranging from decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to blockchain-powered gaming platforms.
AlphaTON calls this a “differentiated digital asset treasury model”, blending institutional investment practices with hands-on ecosystem development.
Investor Confidence
The market responded swiftly to the news. Shares of AlphaTON, still trading under the PRTG ticker at the time, rose 15% to $8.01 following the announcement. The reaction suggests investors see potential in the company’s strategy of combining traditional equity markets with blockchain-powered assets.
Backing also comes from outside investors. Yury Mitin, managing partner at RSV Capital, said: “We are strongly bullish on TON and see massive opportunities as it evolves into a top-10 global blockchain by 2026. The combination of Telegram’s billion-user ecosystem and TON’s cutting-edge technology creates a unique platform for the next generation of crypto entrepreneurs.”
Competition Heats Up
AlphaTON is not the first company to adopt Toncoin as a cornerstone of its treasury. VERB Technology Company has already committed to an even larger TON accumulation strategy. VERB holds about $713 million worth of Toncoin, plus $67 million in cash, giving it a war chest exceeding $780 million.
In August, VERB completed a $558 million private placement that sent its stock price soaring more than 200%. The company has also set an ambitious goal: to capture 5% of Toncoin’s circulating supply, or roughly 128 million tokens, through additional fundraising.
