By Hannah Lang
WASHINGTON, July 9 (Reuters) – Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, is stepping down after six years at the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange where he fought off a major lawsuit brought by the U.S. securities regulator and played an instrumental role in the crypto industry’s Washington campaign to secure industry-friendly policies.
Molly Abraham, Coinbase’s vice president of legal, will move into Grewal’s role with the title of general counsel, the company told Reuters. Coinbase is also naming Ryan VanGrack, who is currently vice president of legal, as the company’s first vice chair and head of corporate affairs, Coinbase said.
Grewal first posted news of his departure on X. He will be staying on as an adviser at Coinbase and will remain on the board of Coinbase’s National Trust Company.
MAJOR SEC LEGAL BATTLE
Grewal’s time at Coinbase was partly defined by a years-long legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which sued Coinbase in 2023 alleging the company had flouted its rules by facilitating trading in crypto tokens that it said should have registered as securities with the watchdog.
Legal experts saw the case as existential for Coinbase and the broader crypto industry, which had long sought to avoid costly SEC oversight. The agency under U.S. President Donald Trump, who courted crypto money on the campaign trail, dismissed the case last year, a massive win for Grewal, Coinbase and the industry.
Coinbase has been a leading advocate for the crypto industry as it has sought policy changes in Washington to put it on a solid legal footing, with Grewal at the forefront of those efforts.
Most recently, he had also been involved in deliberations on highly anticipated legislation — dubbed the Clarity Act — that would create federal rules for cryptocurrencies. The bill had been bogged down for months by a dispute between crypto companies and banks, but advanced out of a key Senate committee in May.
“After helping to take the company public, fighting the SEC and winning, moving us from Delaware to Texas, working to get … CLARITY passed into law, and so much more — now is my time for new adventures,” Grewal said in the post on X.
In his new role, VanGrack will work closely with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, a vocal advocate for the industry who has also been personally involved in pushing the Clarity Act.
BUILDING COINBASE’S FUTURE
VanGrack will step into a “broader corporate and public-facing role” representing Coinbase before “key stakeholders and policymakers around the world,” he said in an interview.
The company needs to focus “on steps that unlock products, expand jurisdictions, and enhance our relationships with governments and partners around the world,” VanGrack added.
Coinbase has been seeking to become an “everything exchange” by expanding beyond crypto, including into stock trading, prediction markets and artificial intelligence-powered investment tools.
“What I’m so excited about in this next chapter is this is all about building our products … because of the path that (Grewal) cleared,” said Abraham in an interview.
(Reporting by Hannah Lang in New York; Editing by Michelle Price and Matthew Lewis)
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