Crypto Hiring: Coinbase adds ex-SEC adviser to legal team

A legal executive at Citadel Securities has jumped ship and joined a crypto exchange fighting its share of regulatory battles. 

Ryan VanGrack has joined Coinbase as its vice president of litigation, Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal revealed in a Monday X post. 

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VanGrack also formerly worked at the US regulator that crypto firms have been fighting with, (or settling with) for various alleged securities violations.    

He was general counsel at capital markets firm Citadel Securities for about three years. Prior to that, he spent nearly five years as a senior adviser to the chair at the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to his LinkedIn page.

Read more: Crypto needs ‘to work closely with the regulators:’ Gemini deputy general counsel

The last line in Grewal’s X post — “Welcome to the fight, Ryan.” — puts the exchange’s situation bluntly.   

The SEC sued Coinbase last year for allegedly operating an unregistered securities exchange. Coinbase sought to have the case dismissed, but fell short of that goal earlier this year.   

More recently, Coinbase faced off with the US securities regulator in federal court Monday. Representatives for the company told a three-judge panel that the SEC has failed to provide a path for actors in the crypto space to comply, despite telling them to “come in and register.” 

Speaking of crypto exchanges, Kraken is reportedly set to bring aboard Natasha Powell as its UK compliance head.

The executive’s LinkedIn page says she is chief compliance officer at payment account and trading services provider BCB Group. Sources “familiar with the matter” told CoinDesk that Powell is set to start in the new role at Kraken in November.  

A Kraken spokesperson did not immediately return Blockworks’ request for comment. Powell could not immediately be reached via LinkedIn.   

Crypto venture capital firm CoinFund hired Bobby Beniers, George Christopher and Jonathan Rotbard to its investment team.

Beniers joins from Polychain Capital, where he has been a partner since 2022. Christopher had been an investment professional at Battery Ventures, while Rotbard was formerly at Corner Capital Management. 

David Pakman, CoinFund’s head of venture investments, noted in a statement that the blockchain investment landscape is expanding by geography — adding there are more credible base layers and a more mature developer stack. The prospect of regulatory clarity is evolving in certain jurisdictions as well, he added. 

“All of this is leading to more users onchain, more use cases for crypto and more and more developers building on decentralized platforms,” Pakman said. “To maintain our edge, we are excited to add to our investment team, enhancing our ability to identify and capitalize on the most promising high-growth opportunities in a rapidly evolving landscape.”

Finally, Singapore-based digital asset trading firm QCP appointed Andrew Scott as its chief commercial officer. 

Scott most recently led asset raising, co-investments and business development as a partner at Bach Option. Before that, he held sales director roles at financial giants Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch and Societe Generale.

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