A crypto CEO’s warning to law firms

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When Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong speaks, the crypto industry tends to listen.

His recent X post reminded me of what Twisted Sister first sang out in 1984: “We’re not gonna take it anymore.” (I would only hear this years later, after my birth). 

If you didn’t see, here’s the post:

You see that Armstrong called out the hire of Gurbir Grewal, who had been the SEC’s enforcement division director since 2021. He departed the agency in October and later that month joined the litigation and arbitration group at Milbank LLP.

The law firm stated in a news release that the commission brought more than 2,400 enforcement actions during Grewal’s tenure, including “more than 100 enforcement actions addressing noncompliance in the crypto space.” 

A Milbank spokesperson did not return my request for comment. 

Despite what the X post might suggest, a person familiar with the matter clarified that Milbank has never actually worked for Coinbase.  

You might remember too that McGuireWoods in August hired David Hirsch , ex-head of the SEC’s crypto assets and cyber unit. Coinbase’s relationship with that firm is unclear, and a McGuireWoods representative didn’t immediately comment. 

Armstrong’s post was meant to spark conversation and give some transparency about how the publicly traded crypto exchange is thinking about this.

Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal told me that not all law firm leaders keep close tabs on crypto and might not understand how “deeply personal” the SEC’s enforcement actions felt to industry players. 

“This was more than just, we have a good-faith disagreement about the law, so let’s resolve this in an amicable way,” he said. “It has felt for three and a half years that this industry has been under attack [and] unfairly attacked.”

Of course, companies can hire whoever they want. But the point is that so too can Coinbase (and others) choose who it works with.

Armstrong’s post “did catch people’s attention in the big law world,” Grewal noted. We’ll see if it moves the needle at all in terms of who firms choose to hire. Either way, the message was sent.

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