Enzo: An Alpha Deal Maker, Part 1

Note: This essay draws on my notes from my research for "The Telegram Labyrinth." However, I feel comfortable with a style that blends my musings, facts, and some "what if" scenarios. In this essay, I present some information about the Skolkovo recipe, an approach to US capital markets that requires a specific page from a financial engineering playbook. Most of the information originated in Russian social media; for example, online articles, Telegram messages, items in PCNews.ru, and VKontakte pages. Remember, the statements in this essay are from my notes and should be viewed as working hypotheses. Verify before you trust any of my observations. Please, keep the disclaimers in mind as you review this briefing document.

Enzo: A Strategic Decider

I was updating my information about AlphaTON Capital. The firm did an MBA two-step with a Skolkovo spin and changed its name to Alpha Compute. With the step away from "TON" or the Telegram Open Network, the NASDAQ firm abandoned its old ticker symbol ATON. For those who have learned about the Russian financial big wheels, "ATON" is the nickname for a big Kremlin-linked bank. No more. Now Alpha Compute as a loftier ticker symbol—ALP.

I rely on an old-fashioned method of research. There is a clunky, semi-automated system I dubbed Overflight. I have Feedly producing headlines from online publications that write about Telegram and its crypto adventures. I have a couple of people who either email or tell me about a new wrinkle in the 14-year-old ecosystem. And I have Alice, the tricky-to-use smart software from Yandex, once a Russian outfit (allegedly). Most smart software and Web search systems like the Google don't expose content about Telegram from Eastern European or Chinese sources. This means plugging away on Telegram with its often-wonky translation bots or using an online translation system to run a query in Sougou.com.

What jumped out at me as I was handwriting my notecards was an Alpha Compute senior manager named Fiorenzo Villani. References to this individual use the nickname "Enzo," so in this Telegram Note, Enzo it shall be. Since Portage Biotech engaged with Alpha Compute's leadership in mid-2025, Enzo was part of the reverse merger team. Enzo is still involved with the company.

Enzo's Roles at AlphaTON Capital/Alpha Compute

Here's a run down of the job titles I could identify between September 2025 and April 30, 2025. I may have missed some, but Alpha Compute has an on-again, off-again approach to news releases.

He joined as the Executive Chairman of the Board, CEO, and as the asset manager. In this role, he represented his own firm Alpha Sigma Capital Advisors. He relinquished his job as CEO when Brittany Kaiser, a former Cambridge Analytica professional, assumed that role. In December 2025, he was part of a management team that consisted of the Russian Yuri Miti (Red Shark Ventures), Ms. Kaiser, and himself. After the rebranding in April 2025, Enzo remains the Executive Chairman and Chief Investment Officer. The Alpha Compute Web site identifies him as the Executive Chairman, presumably the chief investment officer title has been retired due to the firm's financial performance:

I was curious about the reference to Alphas Sigma Capital Advisors entity. I flipped through my stack of notecards and identified these companies founded, owned, or partially controlled by Enzo.

A quick review of this list (which I believe is incomplete due to my research shortcomings) is that Enzo uses the word or Greek letter alpha repeatedly. In the rarified atmosphere of financial engineers, "alpha" means more than number one or dominant leader. In a college finance class, students must know that "alpha" means the excess return of an investment or portfolio relative to a benchmark index, such as the S&P 500. But on the squash court of the New York Athletic Club, "alpha" means a person or firm has the ability to identify mispriced assets, timing the market, or employing superior strategies to generate substantial returns.

A related observation is that Enzo's companies provide tidy boxes of specific financial services. Enzo can provide consulting services. Enzo can arrange publicity and content delivery. Enzo can invest his money or funds from other sources. Enzo can provide AI solutions to other financial firms and clients desirous of smart software. Enzo can provide a Bloomberg-type trading terminal tuned for crypto and using AI to provide outputs. Enzo can be retained to provide asset management to firms like Alpha Compute. In short, Enzo offers just about any financial service, product, or function a client might require.

After reading this line up of Enzo-linked firms, I realized that Enzo lives part-time in Redondo Beach, California. That's not far from what used to be the motion picture capital of the world. Into my mind, popped a tune from the play and motion picture "Chicago." John Kander's and Fred Ebb's lyrics rang in my mind: "Give 'em the old razzle dazzle / Razzle dazzle 'em / Give 'em an act with lots of flash in it / And they'll never know you're a criminal." My association of the list of companies and a film is probably incorrect for most people. For me, "the old razzle dazzle" describes what my notes were telling me.

First, a Reverse Merger & Second, a Rebrand

The Swanson TV dinner NASDAQ reverse flip of Portage Biotech to AlphaTON Capital was not working out. The cute reference to the Russian bank was a negative. The initial investment which elicited an email from the US Securities & Exchange Commission where Enzo used to work was not good. The number of the investment was $420.69 million. The "420" was a dog whistle to cannabis users, and the "69" signaled a meme stock to day traders and crypto aficionados. The deal with the Uzbeki Andrei Grachev, a known crypto market maker, was not a positive because Grachev had a brush with the law in Moscow and direct ties to an influential crypto and AI organization linked to the Kremlin.

Enzo engineered a rebrand and a line up of partners not directly linked to Russia. As Executive Chairman and commander of a fleet of financial firms, he had contacts, deals, and business relationships in the US, Canada, and the UK. In the second part of this summary of my Enzo Villani notes, I want to outline and identify the gaps in a round of funding that was announced months ago. As of May 17, that money has not be handed over to Alpha Compute. The firm needs cash to help it acquire hardware to implement the firm's planned AI infrastructure. What my notes suggest is that there are several unsolved mysteries associated with this to-be investment. One is the timeline. The second is a founder of a company who allegedly orchestrated the deal itself. The mystery is, "Who is Janet Louise Lovell?"

Stephen E Arnold, May 19, 2026