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The best-funded company in the Bitcoin industry appears to be operating without the proper licenses in the world’s financial capital.

Coinbase, a company based in San Francisco with funding from the New York Stock Exchange and other big investors, said this week that it had opened as the first regulated Bitcoin exchange in several states, including New York.

But a spokesman for the top financial regulator in New York said the company did not have the licenses necessary to operate as a Bitcoin exchange in the state.

“We are working with several companies, including Coinbase, on licensing and will continue to move forward expeditiously,” said Matthew Anderson, a spokesman for Benjamin M. Lawsky, the superintendent of the state’s Department of Financial Services. “That said, we have not yet issued any licenses to virtual currency firms.”

The understanding in Mr. Lawsky’s office is that in order to operate as a Bitcoin exchange or broker, a company would need a money transmission license and would, in the future, need a specialized BitLicense, which Mr. Lawsky’s office is planning to unveil soon, according to a person briefed on the matter who was not authorized to speak about the office’s views publicly.

In a statement, a co-founder of Coinbase, Fred Ehrsam, said his company “will continue to work” with Mr. Lawsky’s office “on all Bitcoin matters involving consumers, merchants and the recently launched Coinbase Exchange.” He added, “We also look forward to continuing to work together on the completion of New York’s BitLicense.”

Bitcoin, a digital currency with built-in scarcity, was started by an anonymous creator in 2009. Over the last two years, companies working with the currency have attracted hundreds of millions of dollars in investments — with none attracting more money than Coinbase. Last week, Coinbase announced that it had raised $75 million from several investors, including the New York Stock Exchange and the Spanish bank BBVA.

There is no indication that Coinbase is facing any penalty for working with New York residents. But any tension between Coinbase and regulators could set back carefully orchestrated efforts in the industry to improve Bitcoin’s reputation with the authorities after earlier thefts and scandals.

In addition to Mr. Lawsky’s office, California’s top financial regulator issued a “consumer alert” on Tuesday about Coinbase after news reports suggested the company was licensed to serve residents of the state.

“California consumers should be aware Coinbase Exchange is not regulated or licensed by the state,” the alert from the California Department of Business said.

A number of other Bitcoin companies have said they were waiting for Mr. Lawsky to issue his BitLicense before trying to open an exchange in the United States. Last week, Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss said they were planning to open a Bitcoin exchange in New York as soon as Mr. Lawsky signed off on it.

Mr. Lawsky has been at the forefront of trying to impose regulations on the nascent Bitcoin industry, and industry participants expect that other state regulators will act after Mr. Lawsky.

Coinbase’s decision to move ahead of regulators is similar to the decisions made by some other California start-ups, which have started their businesses and then sought regulatory approval, occasionally causing tension with those regulators.