Paul Grewal, the lawyer who became Coinbase's public face during the SEC's most aggressive push against the exchange, is moving to Cognition AI. He joins the company behind Devin, an AI engineering agent that's been making noise in the AI space, as its first Chief Legal and Global Affairs Officer. The shift starts in August 2026, ending nearly six years where Grewal evolved from a federal judge into one of crypto's most recognizable legal minds.
Grewal took the Coinbase job in July 2020 when the exchange was preparing its direct listing and about to collide with regulators. He stayed through the whole fight, the SEC lawsuit, all of it, until July 31, 2026. Before Coinbase he'd been a magistrate judge in the Northern District of California and spent time as Deputy General Counsel at Facebook. The exchange tapped Molly Abraham, previously VP of legal, to replace him as general counsel. Grewal isn't vanishing entirely, though. He'll keep advising Coinbase until October and stays on the board of its National Trust Company subsidiary.
Cognition's move to hire a battle-tested crypto legal officer suggests the AI company sees the regulatory storm coming. AI startups are starting to face the same kind of scrutiny that crypto companies navigated for years, and Cognition wants someone who knows how to operate when governments are paying attention. Grewal's résumé says the company isn't betting on regulations staying light.
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