Pushing for transparency in the “virtual currency marketplace,” New York’s attorney general has launched a “fact-finding inquiry” into the practices of 13 cryptocurrency trading platforms.

A global trend: Policymakers around the world are scrutinizing digital currency exchanges, the bridges between the worlds of fiat money and cryptocurrency. These entities tend to operate with much less transparency than platforms for trading conventional assets, like securities or derivatives (see “What the Coincheck hack means for the future of blockchain security”).

Question and answer: The office of Eric Schneiderman, New York’s attorney general, sent a letter to each exchange that included a questionnaire touching on a range of topics, including fees, trading policies and procedures, protection of customer assets, safeguards against conflicts of interest and fraud, security against money laundering, and the use of bots.

Sunlight as disinfectant: “Too often, consumers don’t have the basic facts they need to assess the fairness, integrity, and security of these trading platforms,” Schneiderman said in a statement.

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