Crypto Veteran Michael Sonnenshein Exits Industry to Become AI Venture Capitalist
Michael Sonnenshein, one of the cryptocurrency industry’s most experienced executives and former CEO of Grayscale, is leaving the digital asset sector to join an artificial intelligence-focused venture capital firm.
Sonnenshein has been named partner and group president at Corner, a multi-stage venture firm that invests across venture capital, infrastructure, and incubation. The move marks the latest high-profile transition from crypto to AI amid booming investment in the emerging technology.
In his new role, Sonnenshein will focus on building out the team, fundraising, and professionalizing operations rather than making direct investments initially. He said he was drawn to Corner’s opportunity to unify its three core business lines and sees strong parallels between the current regulatory environment for AI and the early days of crypto.
“While we’ve now seen regulation beginning to catch up and create frameworks on crypto, we don’t have as much of that yet around AI, and I think that’s to come,” Sonnenshein said. “That, to me, smells like more of an opportunity than anything.”
Sonnenshein previously spent more than a decade at Grayscale, rising to CEO, where he advocated for clearer crypto regulation and navigated challenges including significant pressure on the firm’s flagship Bitcoin trust, GBTC. He most recently served as president of asset tokenization company Securitize.
Corner, founded in 2018, maintains offices in Palo Alto, New York, Tel Aviv, and Tokyo. The firm manages $1.7 billion and has returned more than $300 million to investors. Notable exits include Israeli fintech Melio (acquired for $2.5 billion), crypto prime brokerage Hidden Road (acquired by Ripple for $1.25 billion), and nuclear energy company X-Energy, which went public on Nasdaq.
The move comes as AI venture deals have surged. According to PitchBook, AI startups raised $255.5 billion globally in the first quarter of 2026 alone, surpassing the full-year total for 2025.
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