Former Coinbase Global Inc. attorney gains key legal post after US’s largest digital asset trading platform cuts staff and prepares for potential lawsuits from regulators
Richard “Rick” Estacio was on parental leave while working as part of a legal and compliance staff of 20 people. fired at coinbase, said he joined Reddit Inc. on Monday. He is one of the “good people who used to have a legal landing on Coinbase in a great place,” he said in an email.
Smeet Chugani, former Associate General Counsel for Products at Coinbase, has been appointed Head of Legal and Compliance at Cloaked, effective May 1. privacy apphe said in an email. Hector Ivan Velez, former Associate General Counsel for Capital Markets at Coinbase, has joined Flow Carbon Inc., a carbon credit cryptocurrency startup backed by WeWork Inc. co-founder Adam Neumann, Velez said. Stated. Last week’s post on LinkedIn.
coinbase is Reportedly considering moving International hub to the United Arab Emirates amid a legal battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. threatened to sue It spans several business lines of the company.Coinbase announced plans 20% less staff in January to help weather the market slowdown.
Coinbase did not respond to a request for comment on its legal group.
Estacio Announced on LinkedIn His role on Reddit came after joining Coinbase last year from JPMorgan Chase & Company. I thank my colleagues at
Today, he leads Reddit’s commercial legal department, reuniting with Milana McCullagh, a former veteran of Google’s legal group and deputy director of product and commercial legal at Coinbase, in a private company.
Reddit hired McCullagh as vice president of legal affairs in January. This is a newly created position reporting to the company’s general counsel, Benjamin Lee, a spokeswoman said.
going in and out
Chugani, who is now at Cloaked, praised the “excellent leadership” of Paul Grewal, the current Chief Legal Officer of Coinbase.
Grewal, Coinbase’s best lawyer since 2020, received compensation totaling about $7.5 million last year, according to the company’s latest information. power of attorney.
Chugani declined to discuss his time at Coinbase, which he joined in 2021, instead citing recent social media posts promoting his retirement.
“It was an honor to be in the trenches with some of the smartest, most passionate colleagues on the planet, all on one mission.” Last week’s LinkedIn message.
Velez did not respond to a request for comment on his move to Flow.in him My LinkedIn Post Velez thanked the support he received from his former colleagues at Coinbase.
Elizabeth Ralston is the former Chief Counsel for Bison Trails, a blockchain infrastructure startup that was sold to Coinbase for $450 million in 2021, and until last month was Deputy Counsel for Coinbase Cloud. I was an adviser.
Ralston left the company to become general counsel for Turnkey Global, a company founded by former Coinbase executives, she said. LinkedIn post.
legal pipeline
Three other former Coinbase attorneys involved in the company’s recent layoffs — C. Renée Gately, Head of Commercial Legal and Technology Transactions, Lisa Richards, Senior Corporate Counsel, and David Lappin Wells, Product Counsel — are also involved in the company’s recent layoffs. , HackerOne Inc., Navan Inc., and Extreme Networks Inc., respectively.
Coinbase attorneys who have retired in the last few years are also in demand.
Former Coinbase executive and international general counsel Marcus Hughes said: came out last yearSaid Via LinkedIn Joined Sentinel Global, a venture capital firm, as a partner in April.
In the same month, Copper Technologies Ltd., a UK-based digital asset management company, Promotion Samuel Brown, Former Coinbase Associate General Counsel, Becomes Chief Legal Officer and Takes Over Carly Nussbach LowryFormer International General Counsel of Coinbase.
Former Coinbase Litigation Associate General Counsel Maribeth Ann Bushey, who left the company in 2021, was hired by software firm Aveva Group PLC in March for product and regulatory roles.
Arkive Museum Collective LP The world’s first decentralized museumin January hired Former Coinbase Associate General Counsel Doc Kun Ahn serves as the legal director.
In the same month, Eric Weingarten, former Associate General Counsel at Coinbase, was appointed chief legal and compliance officer at identity verification platform Bridge Ventures Inc.
Last month, Coinbase hired former Fenwick & West corporate finance and transaction associate Rayleigh Rezai as senior corporate counsel.
