This Monday, Coinbase Inc. launched what it dubbed the first regulated U.S. exchange and listed 24 states and one territory where the exchange would be available. Since the launch, however, at least two officials, in California and New York State, have come forward to say that Coinbase Exchange is not regulated in their states.

California Department of Business Oversight Commissioner Jan Lynn Owen said in a statement Tuesday, “The California Department of Business Oversight has not decided whether to regulate virtual currency transactions, or the businesses that arrange such transactions, under the state’s Money Transmission Act. California consumers should be aware Coinbase Exchange is not regulated or licensed by the State.”

And a spokesman for New York State Department of Financial Services Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky said, Coinbase has no license to operate in the state. Lawsky is best known for his New York BitLicense proposal, which has seen much criticism from the Bitcoin community and still does not exist in law.

“We are working with several companies, including Coinbase, on licensing and will continue to move forward expeditiously. That said, we have not yet issued any licenses to virtual currency firms,” said the NYDFS spokesperson in a statement Wednesday.

Regulatory “grey areas” in California and New York

CoinDesk contacted Coinbase about the statements made by regulators and the company’s representative said that New York and California represent regulatory “grey zones” regarding bitcoin.

Both states are “working on their own bitcoin regulations,” but have no current laws or regulation covering bitcoin or cryptocurrency specifically.

California has been in the news for recently having swept aside legislative obstacles that could have been problematic for bitcoin or any other corporate currency-like system such as Starbucks Stars, Amazon Coins, or Microsoft’s now defunct Xbox Points system. However, this legislative change did not add extra licenses for Bitcoin-related businesses, it only makes potential regulation less complex.

New York State’s attempts at draft legislation involving bitcoin have placed the NYDFS in the spotlight for months with Lawsky’s “BitLicense” proposal. The Bitlicense proposal has seen an extensive and extended comments period, and considerable criticism from the Bitcoin industry and community. It is not yet part of state law or regulation.

Coinbase says that the company has received licensed in 14 U.S. states, as well as signs from eight other states including Massachusetts where licenses are not needed.

 Image credit: Reuters