AlphaTON is the Nasdaq-listed company AlphaTON Capital Corp. (stock code ATON).
AlphaTON Capital Corp. was formerly Portage Biotech Inc., which was originally a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company registered in the British Virgin Islands, focused on developing innovative therapies targeting immune checkpoint resistance mechanisms, aiming to improve long-term treatment outcomes and quality of life for patients with difficult-to-treat cancers. The company once faced severe pressure on funding and business development: on one hand, a shortage of funds forced the company to suspend core clinical trials and barely maintain operations through private financing; on the other hand, the company also sought breakthroughs through various means such as finding partners and selling assets, but ultimately failed to reverse the business decline.
Portage Biotech Inc. has been seeking transformation, and the rise of the cryptocurrency industry has caught its attention. However, with so many tracks available, who should they bet on?
Telegram has entered its sights.
Telegram is a private holding technology company founded by Nikolai and Pavel Durov in 2013. Its legal registration structure is quite unique, registered in the British Virgin Islands and operating in Dubai as a limited liability company (LLC). Since 2017, it has set up its core operations in Dubai. Telegram is not just a simple instant messaging tool; it has developed into a comprehensive ecological platform covering communications, social networking, enterprise services, creator monetization, and blockchain-related businesses.
Portage Biotech Inc., as an experienced pharmaceutical company, is well aware of the importance of compliance. The regulatory framework of the US SEC is not a mere formality, and having suffered consecutive years of losses, they need to be cautious. Telegram is very appealing to them.
Firstly, Telegram's core positioning is as a 'social platform', not as a 'crypto exchange'. The cryptocurrency functions within its ecosystem (such as wallets and Mini Apps) are achieved through third-party cooperation (such as with the TON Foundation and compliance custody institution BitGo), forming a relatively mature regulatory response model (to briefly mention the history of TON, it launched its token in 2018, originally named Gram. Telegram raised about $1.7 billion through an ICO, but in 2019 was accused by the SEC of illegal fundraising. After paying fines and settling in 2020, Telegram abandoned the project and returned the raised funds. In 2021, it established the Swiss non-profit TON Foundation, renamed the project to The Open Network, and the token was also renamed to Toncoin. Telegram no longer directly issues tokens but supports community-led TON development).
Secondly, the bonds issued by Telegram in 2025 (with a coupon rate of 9%) received investments from top institutions such as BlackRock and Mubadala, indicating that mainstream capital recognizes Telegram's commercialization potential and compliance.
Thirdly, by 2025, Telegram's monthly active users will exceed 1 billion, making it one of the top 10 social applications globally. Its underlying blockchain TON has become a hot ecosystem in the cryptocurrency field due to its 'high TPS + low fees', and Telegram has launched a self-custody wallet and supports TON payments, showing initial signs of ecosystem commercialization. Binding to the Telegram ecosystem is equivalent to 'cutting into the trillion-level social + blockchain integration market from a declining medical niche', which can quickly gain business growth momentum and avoid the company being delisted due to the collapse of its original business.
Fourthly, Telegram's core advantage lies in its 'super-large user base + seamless ecological closure', which precisely addresses the pain points of 'customer acquisition difficulty and few scenarios' in the cryptocurrency asset field.
Therefore, for Portage Biotech Inc., the Telegram ecosystem simultaneously addresses three core issues: 'growth tracks, user scenarios, regulatory risks'. It not only provides a larger market space than the original business but also realizes rapid implementation of cryptocurrency business through 1 billion users and diverse scenarios. Additionally, it leverages Telegram's compliance framework to reduce regulatory uncertainty. This 'traffic + scenarios + compliance' triple advantage makes it the best choice for Portage.
Just do it!
On September 4, 2025, Portage Biotech Inc. (PRTG) officially changed its name to AlphaTON Capital Corp. (stock code ATON), with Brittany Kaiser serving as the new CEO (Brittany Kaiser previously served as a director of Gryphon Digital Mining and has extensive experience in digital assets and data protection). It was officially announced that they would purchase $100 million worth of TON tokens as reserves and fully embrace the Telegram ecosystem.
The newly established AlphaTON raised $71 million in its first round of fundraising, of which $36 million came from private placements and another $35 million from loans from BitGo Prime. AlphaTON used $30 million from this loan to directly purchase the first batch of TON tokens, becoming one of the main holders of TON globally.
In October 2025, AlphaTON plans to acquire 60% of the mobile gaming platform GAMEE for $15 million. After the transaction is completed, they plan to purchase a significant amount of related tokens from the platform to enter the Telegram gaming sector.
In November 2025, AlphaTON invested approximately $82.5 million to build a high-performance computing cluster containing over 1,000 NVIDIA B200-level GPUs to provide computational support for Telegram's Cocoon AI (a decentralized privacy-protecting artificial intelligence network).
At the same time, it established joint ventures with PagoPay and launched a co-branded TON Mastercard, allowing users to convert cryptocurrency into fiat currency for global consumption, further opening up real-world application channels for TON tokens.
The company also plans to acquire Telegram bonds to further solidify its partnership with Telegram, obtaining an annualized yield of 9%.
On the 3rd of this month, AlphaTON just submitted a shelf registration statement (Form S-3 shelf registration) worth $420.69 million to the US SEC. If approved by the SEC, AlphaTON can flexibly proceed with financing according to market conditions, with various forms of securities that can be issued, including common stock, preferred stock, bonds, warrants, etc., without needing to go through the complete regulatory approval process for every financing, allowing them to efficiently match funding needs at different stages.
The use of funds includes three aspects:
Firstly, it aims to expand the computational infrastructure of the Telegram Cocoon AI network, continue to increase the deployment of NVIDIA B200 GPUs, and deepen cooperation with existing partners such as Cudo Compute.
Secondly, it aims to acquire enterprises within the Telegram ecosystem that have stable revenue streams, covering various fields such as payments, blockchain services, content distribution, and gaming.
Thirdly, it is used for acquiring TON tokens and ecosystem-related digital assets, while also promoting cooperation with Telegram in the fields of financial technology, health, and sports applications.
It seems AlphaTON really wants to do a lot of things, but funding is limiting their efforts.
In fact, AlphaTON's total assets before the transformation were only $28.6 million, and they had been in a state of continuous losses. In the first quarter of 2025, they reported a net profit loss of $0.02 million. For us in the cryptocurrency circle, it seems rare to see those altcoins with market values of several tens of millions of dollars; in fact, compared to traditional industries, they are already giants. But are they actually giants? Everyone should have a basic judgment in their hearts.
Alright, that's all for AlphaTON. I will update with new content later. I won't delve into the analysis of TON tokens; they are mature tokens with all the information available. Just a side note.
If everyone remembers, I previously wrote in my article (Jia Yueting's roundabout road to salvation) that Jia Yueting also used a backdoor listing of a Nasdaq pharmaceutical company to directly enter the cryptocurrency sector. What does it mean that these big names are entering the cryptocurrency space? What does it mean that those well-known investment institutions are also entering the cryptocurrency sector? It indicates that the cryptocurrency sector is certainly one of the trending industries, and working hard in this industry is definitely much more promising than in sunset industries. We must strive.
However, it is important to note that everyone wants to make money in this industry. If you don't know whose money you're making, then you're that money without a doubt.
