New York’s Attorney General (AG) has reported three crypto exchanges to the state’s regulator for possible violations of digital currency violations.
The three exchanges, Binance, Kraken and Gate.io, had all refused to provide information requested by the state.
The AG, Barbara Underwood, said that New Yorkers were entitled to the same level of transparency and accountability when they invest, whether it is the New York Stock Exchange or a cryptocurrency platform.
“Many virtual currency platforms lack the necessary policies and procedures to ensure the fairness, integrity and security of their exchanges,” said Underwood.
Of particular concern to Underwood is the lack of protection from abusive trading practices on many crypto exchnages, addding that few of them have “made any serious efforts” to restrict or monitor manipulative trading, the operation of bots or the use of automated algorithmic trading.
Underwood also highlighted concerns around the safeguarding of customer funds and possible conflicts of interest noting that several exchanges engage in proprietary trading.
Underwood had written to 13 major crypto exchanges back in April requesting more details on their operations, however only nine responded.
Meanwhile Kraken CEO and founder Jesse Powell responded to Underwood’s requests calling them “tone deaf” and “insulting” and noting that Kraken exited New York in 2015 because New York is “hostile to crypto”. The April questionnaire proved that “New York is not only hostile to crypto, it is hostile to business”, tweeted Powell.