Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal to Step Down

Coinbase Global's Chief Legal Officer and Secretary, Paul Grewal, notified the company on July 8 that he plans to step down, effective July 31, 2026, according to an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company expects to appoint Molly Abraham, currently vice president of legal, as its new general counsel and secretary, the filing says.

Coinbase and Grewal signed an advisor agreement the same day, under which he will help transition his responsibilities and provide advisory services from August 1 through October 31, 2026, per the filing. He is entitled to a lump sum equal to three months of his base salary, payable after the advisory period ends, plus continued vesting of restricted stock units that were scheduled to vest August 20, 2026, contingent on his continued service under the agreement.

The filing does not disclose the reason for Grewal's departure or his compensation figures.

Grewal joined Coinbase, the largest US crypto exchange by trading volume, in 2020 and became a prominent public face of the company's legal fights with regulators, including its multiyear litigation with the SEC over whether its platform traded unregistered securities. Market commentary accounts, including PiQ Markets, circulated the news Thursday, framing Grewal's tenure around that litigation and Coinbase's Washington advocacy.

Coinbase has not published its own blog post or executive statement about the transition beyond the SEC disclosure at the time of this filing, and the exhibited advisor agreement's exact compensation exhibit was not independently examined for additional terms beyond those summarized in the 8-K.

The change comes as Coinbase continues to navigate the CLARITY Act debate and other pending crypto market-structure legislation in Washington, areas where Grewal had been a lead company voice.