The letters which were made public contained a 34-point questionnaire covering the ownership and control of the exchanges; basic operation and fees; trading policies and procedures; outages and suspensions; internal controls; privacy and money laundering; investor protection; and documentation. In a theme of transparency, the statement noted that the results of the inquiry will be made public.
The AG wants to protect investors by making the operations of these cryptocurrency trading platforms more transparent. The statement read in part:
[perfectpullquote align="full" bordertop="false" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]“With cryptocurrency on the rise, consumers in New York and across the country have a right to transparency and accountability when they invest their money. Yet too often, consumers don’t have the basic facts they need to assess the fairness, integrity, and security of these trading platforms.”[/perfectpullquote]
The recipients of the letter sent the Investor Protection Bureau of the AG’s office include the following exchanges: Coinbase, Inc. (GDAX); Gemini Trust Company; Bitstamp USA Inc.; bitFlyer USA, Inc.; iFinex Inc. (Bitfinex); Payward, Inc. (Kraken); Bittrex, Inc.; Circle Internet Financial Limited (Poloniex LLC); Binance Limited; Gate Technology Incorporated (Gate.io); Elite Way Developments LLP (Tidex.com); itBit Trust Company; and Huobi Global Limited (Huobi.Pro).
The exchanges are expected to respond by the end of the month.
