New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Tuesday a probe into the state's cryptocurrency exchanges.

The Virtual Markets Integrity Initiative is “a fact-finding inquiry into the policies and practices of platforms used by consumers to trade virtual or 'crypto' currencies like bitcoin and ether,” according to an announcement issued by the AG's office Tuesday.

“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,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “Yet too often, consumers don't have the basic facts they need to assess the fairness, integrity and security of these trading platforms.”

“Our Virtual Markets Integrity Initiative sets out to change that, promoting the accountability and transparency in the virtual currency marketplace that investors and consumers deserve,” he added.

As part of the initiative, the AG's Investor Protection Bureau has sent letters to 13 virtual currency trading platforms. They include Coinbase Inc., Gemini Trust Co., bitFlyer USA Inc., iFinex Inc., Bitstamp USA Inc., Payward Inc., Bittrex Inc., Circle Internet Financial Ltd., Binance Ltd., Elite Way Developments, Gate Technology Inc., itBit Trust Co. and Huobi Global Ltd.

Schneiderman asked these companies about details on topics including ownership and control, basic operations and fees, trading policies and procedures, outages and suspensions of trading, internal controls and privacy and money laundering. The AG's office expressed specific interest in learning more about these platforms' policies on bots and their approach to combating suspicious trading and market manipulation.

The AG's office intends to analyze the responses and share what was learned with the public.

“As the letters explain, the Initiative seeks to increase transparency and accountability as it relates to the platforms retail investors rely on to trade virtual currency, and better inform enforcement agencies, investors and consumers,” Tuesday's announcement said.

The launch of Schneiderman's queries comes amid a crackdown from federal regulators responding to the rapid rise in popularity of cryptocurrency and crypto trading platforms.

There is still ambiguity over which agencies will take the lead in regulating this relatively new sector. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission have shown strong interest in overseeing the market and have each taken enforcement actions against companies and individuals allegedly taking advantage of investors and making fraudulent statements about their offerings.