- Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has announced the company will cut ties with law firms employing individuals linked to alleged anti-crypto actions during the prior SEC administration
- Armstrong specifically called out Milbank LLP for hiring former SEC Director of Enforcement Gurbir Grewal, prompting Coinbase to end their partnership
- He urged the crypto industry to take similar measures, emphasizing ethical concerns over supporting such firms financially
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has revealed that Coinbase has severed ties with Milbank LLP after it hired Gurbir Grewal, the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) former Director of Enforcement. Armstrong has called on the crypto sector to follow suit, arguing that continuing to fund such firms undermines ethical principles and the industry’s interests. In an impassioned X post, Armstrong criticized the SEC’s recent approach to enforcement and warned that it will have consequences under the new administration.
SEC Wanted to “Unlawfully Kill” Crypto
In a bold post on X, Armstrong outlined Coinbase’s decision to stop working with law firms employing individuals from the prior SEC administration:
We’ve let all the law firms we work with know, that if they hire anyone who committed these bad deeds in the (soon to be) prior administration, we will no longer be a client of theirs.
Senior partners at these law firms seem unaware of the crypto industry’s position on this.… https://t.co/k8R6NtfTV1 pic.twitter.com/RT0k408i9f
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) December 3, 2024
Armstrong labeled actions taken under this administration as attempts to “unlawfully kill” the cryptocurrency sector by failing to establish clear regulations, calling the SEC’s approach “an ethics violation.”
The Coinbase chief then called out firms that have taken on former high-ranking SEC officers, specifically singling out Milbank LLP for hiring Gurbir Grewal, the former Director of Enforcement at the SEC. Armstrong revealed that Coinbase has ended its partnership with the firm as a result, stating that the company “will not work with them now (and never will while [Grewal] works there).”
A Call to Action for the Crypto Industry
In his post, Armstrong encouraged other crypto companies to adopt similar measures, asserting that firms must know the risks of losing clients if they employ figures involved in anti-crypto actions:
They can go work in other areas (I don’t believe in permanently cancelling people), but we as an industry should not be putting money in their pocket after the abuse. Let your law firms know that hiring these folks means losing you as a client.
Armstrong’s comments come as Coinbase is still involved in legal battles with the SEC over the definition of cryptocurrencies as securities. He will be hoping that the new regime under the Trump administration will be more forward-thinking in its approach and may even drop certain suits filed by the Biden regime.
