CoinDesk
Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal is leaving the exchange to join a startup, the company said Thursday, ending a six-year run that included the company's years-long court fight with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He will stay on as an adviser to Coinbase and continue working on the company's trust-charter application at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Molly Abraham, Coinbase's vice president of legal since March 2021, takes over as general counsel. Ryan Van Grack, a former Citadel Securities general counsel who has led Coinbase's litigation work, is being elevated to vice chairman, a broader and more public-facing role than his current remit.
Why it matters
Grewal framed his departure around the legal wins, not the workload, telling the team that "leading Coinbase's legal team through the biggest fight of our industry has been the single greatest achievement of my six-year tenure." The framing matters: Coinbase's biggest regulatory case, the SEC's 2023 suit alleging the exchange operated as an unregistered broker, clearinghouse and exchange for securities, was dropped after President Donald Trump retook office, and the agency now led by a different chair is no longer pursuing the same line of cases against other major venues.
The timing of the exit, on a Thursday afternoon announcement after the case closed, signals Coinbase's leadership believes the worst-case regulatory chapters are behind the company. That read is shared by the broader U.S. market: stablecoin market cap fell to $312B in June, its largest monthly drop since TerraUSD, while tokenized equity volumes surged 145% to a record $3.86B, suggesting the regulatory turbulence that defined 2023-24 has shifted into a different regime entirely.
Market impact
Van Grack's elevation to vice chairman is the more structurally interesting move for Coinbase's competitive positioning. He led the litigation work that forced internal SEC documents into public view and pushed the agency toward formal crypto rulemaking, and a vice chairman's mandate at a U.S. exchange of Coinbase's size typically comes with policy and external-engagement duties well beyond the courtroom.
Frequently asked questions
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Who is replacing Paul Grewal as Coinbase's top lawyer?
Molly Abraham, Coinbase's vice president of legal since March 2021, takes over as general counsel. Ryan Van Grack, a former Citadel Securities general counsel who led Coinbase's litigation work, is being elevated to vice chairman.
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Why is Paul Grewal leaving Coinbase?
Grewal said he is departing to join a startup, though he will stay on as an adviser to Coinbase and continue working on the company's trust-charter application at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
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What was the SEC's case against Coinbase?
The SEC sued Coinbase in 2023, alleging the exchange operated as an unregistered broker, clearinghouse and exchange for securities. The regulator dropped the suit after President Donald Trump retook office, with the agency now under a different chair.
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What did Paul Grewal oversee at Coinbase?
Grewal led Coinbase's legal team through its fights with the SEC, including the lawsuit, efforts in court to view internal SEC documents, and a petition to force the agency to establish formal crypto rules.
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What does Ryan Van Grack's new role at Coinbase cover?
Van Grack, a former Citadel Securities general counsel, has been elevated to vice chairman at Coinbase. The role is described as broader and more public-facing than his prior litigation work, and is expected to extend into policy and external engagement.
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