With SEC fight over, Coinbase's top legal exec Grewal moves on, and others reassigned

Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal is leaving the institution aft its high-profile, years-long ineligible combat with U.S. regulators, and the U.S. speech besides announced further changes to its elder leadership.

Grewal is departing to enactment astatine a startup, according to a Thursday announcement from Coinbase. Molly Abraham volition present pb the company's ineligible squad arsenic wide counsel, and Ryan Van Grack volition go vice chairman, successful what's anticipated to beryllium a broader and much public-facing role.

"Leading Coinbase's ineligible squad done the biggest combat of our manufacture has been the azygous top accomplishment of my six-year tenure," Grewal said successful a statement. "Our ineligible wins helped guarantee crypto not lone had a aboriginal successful this country, but could flourish."

His connection continued connected to accidental helium would proceed arsenic an advisor to Coinbase, and would enactment connected Coinbase's spot charter enactment done the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Abraham has been astatine Coinbase since March 2021, moving aggregate ineligible teams arsenic the company's vice president of legal. Prior to that, she was wide counsel astatine an electrical flying car startup, according to her LinkedIn.

Van Grack, a erstwhile wide counsel astatine Citadel Securities, had led Coinbase's wide litigation work.

Coinbase's biggest ineligible combat came from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which sued the institution successful 2023, alleging it was operating arsenic an unregistered broker, clearinghouse and speech for securities. The SEC, helmed astatine the clip by erstwhile Chair Gary Gensler, had filed akin suits against a fig of exchanges.

The regulator dropped the suit aft President Donald Trump retook office.

The speech besides fought successful tribunal to presumption interior SEC documents astir its attack to regulating crypto, arsenic good arsenic a petition to unit the SEC to found crypto rules during Grewal's tenure.