In a powerful statement of intent for the future of Web3 and artificial intelligence, a team of alumni from staking giant Chorus One has launched a bold $20 million venture fund to invest in startups at the intersection of crypto and AI. Their goal? To catalyze the next wave of decentralized innovation—one that combines the transparency, composability, and trustlessness of blockchain with the rapid intelligence and adaptability of AI.
The newly announced fund will focus on early-stage projects that reimagine how machines and decentralized systems collaborate. Key areas of investment include decentralized AI infrastructure, blockchain-based middleware for AI applications, and end-user tools that leverage artificial intelligence to simplify or expand access to crypto services. This could mean anything from autonomous smart contract agents, to AI-enhanced DeFi protocols, to privacy-preserving decentralized models.
For those familiar with Chorus One, this move isn’t entirely surprising. The company is one of the top staking providers for Proof-of-Stake networks like Cosmos, Solana, and Ethereum. Its former team members bring deep technical and economic expertise from securing decentralized systems—knowledge that now extends into the next frontier of intelligent, autonomous networks.
What sets this fund apart is not just the convergence of two exponential technologies, but the ethos guiding it. The Chorus alums are not simply chasing hype. They’re investing in builders who believe AI shouldn’t be centralized behind corporate firewalls, but rather made accessible, interpretable, and beneficial for all. Their fund targets open-source, composable, and community-aligned tools—the building blocks for a more equitable digital future.
This comes at a pivotal time. As AI continues its explosive evolution, concerns over centralized control, bias, and surveillance grow. Blockchain—when thoughtfully applied—offers powerful countermeasures: immutability, provenance, permissionless access, and incentives aligned with community governance. Merging the two technologies is both a technical and philosophical challenge—and one that this $20 million fund seems ready to take on.
If successful, the fund could shape the next wave of consumer applications and infrastructure. Imagine AI models trained across thousands of nodes with full privacy preserved, or dApps that offer real-time machine learning without giving up custody of your data. These aren’t just dreams—they’re use cases already under development.
In many ways, this fund is not just a bet on new companies. It’s a bet on a new paradigm: one where intelligent agents act on behalf of users, not platforms; where data ownership is individual, not corporate; and where decentralized systems are not just scalable and secure—but smart.
