Coinbase Discloses Corporate Data In Response to NY Crypto Inquiry

Coinbase, the U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange startup, has posted part of its response to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's ongoing inquiry.

"We applaud the for taking action to bring further transparency to the virtual currency markets," Coinbase's chief legal and risk officer Mike Lempres wrote in a five-page letter.

Schneiderman's office launched a "Fact-finding inquiry" into cryptocurrency exchanges in April, sending a detailed questionnaire to 13 firms, including Coinbase.

The inquiry seeks a wide range of information about exchanges' operations, their leadership, funding, terms of service, privacy protocols, relationships with other financial institutions and use of trading "Bots."

In the public version of Coinbase's reply, Lempres addresses the assets kept on Coinbase's platform, the firm's funding, its financial position, and its personnel levels.

The letter describes Coinbase's cooperation with law enforcement and regulatory agencies across the globe, its "State of the art" cybersecurity program, and its recent systems upgrades, which Lempres says enabled the platform to achieve 99.99% uptime in April.

It also says Coinbase is a federally regulated money service business and has been granted licenses by regulatory authorities in 31 states, including New York's BitLicense.

Coinbase's full response to Schneiderman's request will likely remain out of the public eye, per a request from the startup.

Lempres asked for "Confidential treatment" for the full response, which the exchange is transmitting "Via an encrypted end-to-end secure file exchange service consistent with our security protocol."

Most exchanges CoinDesk contacted welcomed the New York Attorney General's inquiry, but Kraken, an exchange that left New York due to the BitLicense, pointedly refused to cooperate.