In response to the New York attorney general's report on cryptocurrency exchanges, one of the companies that was referred to the New York Department of Financial Services for further investigation lambasted the report in a series of tweets on Thursday.

Kraken Exchange in one tweet thanked the New York taxpayer for funding the report and said that because of it, the company was able to view some nonpublic information on its competitors. The report by the office of New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood was released on Tuesday.

Kraken continued on Twitter that it objected “to the highly unprofessional/malicious implication that because we did not respond to the voluntary information request we *might* be operating illegally. We told you we don't operate in NY. AG trying cases in court of public opinion now.”

Former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's Investor Protection Bureau sent letters and questionnaires in April to 13 cryptocurrency trading platforms seeking information on operational controls, money laundering and privacy practices but Kraken's CEO and co-founder refused.

The DFS has licensed bitFlyer USA, Coinbase, XRP II and Circle Internet Financial, and licensed charters to Gemini Trust and itBit Trust Co., among others. The Attorney General's Office has enforcement jurisdiction over businesses operating in New York.

When asked for a response to the criticism from the crypto exchanges, a press representative from the Attorney General's Office pointed to the report for comments. Specifically, the representative pointed to a part of the report that indicated that “the Attorney General's office investigated those claims and found that Binance, Gate.io, and Kraken all accepted trades from within New York State.”

The representative did not respond to the criticism from Kraken.

Gate.io and Binance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Crypto exchange platform Coinbase said in a blog post that it welcomed the report and that it “shines a helpful spotlight on important compliance issues in digital asset exchange practices. However, it said media coverage of the report has been inaccurate. The company said that it does not engage in proprietary trading. The report states that “Coinbase disclosed that almost twenty percent of executed volume on its platform was attributable to its own trading.” Coinbase said, however, that has been misinterpreted and that it does not trade for the benefit of the company.

In an email, DFS Superintendent Maria T. Vullo said the department will review the New York attorney general's report.

“DFS is committed to fostering the responsible growth of the virtual currency market, while safeguarding the financial services industry and protecting consumers, through sound state regulation, including licensing and supervision.  The Attorney General's report underscores the value of strong state regulation and consumer protections.  We look forward to reviewing the information and referrals provided by the Attorney General,” Vullo said.

Other than citing the three companies it accused of doing  little to curb manipulative trading practices, and referred to the DFS for further review, the AG's report found that there are significant gaps in investor protections in the virtual currency markets.  The report was supported by voluntary answers of 10 different cryptocurrency exchanges.