Temasek distances itself from crypto in face of FTX fallout

The company invested more than US$210m in FTX in two rounds and will move forward with increased caution.

Singapore-based investment company Temasek has decided to completely write down its 1% stake in FTX International and approximately 1.5% in FTX US.

The latter constituted a $65m investment, and the former $210m. The company said it’s not exposed to cryptocurrencies in any direct way.

Temasek clarified its investment into FTX wasn’t an investment in cryptocurrencies but rather in a company that was “protocol agnostic” and had a “fee income model” with no “trading or balance sheet risk”.

This turned out to be the recently imploded cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which was chosen in the tail end of 2021 after Temasek completed its eight months of due diligence.

Temasek is a Singaporean investment fund with a wide-ranging portfolio and specified exactly what the write-down means for it.

FTX was funded in two rounds, once in October 2021, and then in January this year, with the total cost of investment for Temasek settling around 0.09% of its “net portfolio value” – a crisp S$403b (US$293.5b).

Regardless of the write-down, the Singaporean state fund stressed that it still takes all investment losses seriously, and “there will be learnings” for it from the FTX debacle.

Venture capital company Sequoia Capital was also reported to have written down it’s $210m investment into FTX.

Temasek seems to still be considering the blockchain technology rather highly, mentioning its one of those technologies that has the potential to “transform sectors and create a more connected world”.

This is indicative that the company recognizes the value of blockchain and decentralized technologies, however it also mentioned that it is “supportive of the efforts of the regulators and the courts”, which makes it clear on which side of the fence it now firmly is.

The fallout of FTX seems to be continually eroding the public’s trust in the industry, there are companies from various sectors that are being affected.

With the unprecedented amount of people wanting to pull out, the increase in withdrawal transactions means other companies are running short on liquidity.

That was exactly the case with the lending unit of Genesis, which paused “redemptions and new loan originations” just yesterday.

This also prompted crypto exchange Gemini’s interest-bearing Earn program, in which Genesis is the lending partner, to issue a delay warning to its Earn clients.

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Written by Kyamil Nasuf

Reporter

Kyamil is a big tech fan, who loves hummus on everything and has enjoyed writing from a young age. He's had experience in writing anything from essays, through personal art, to news pieces and more serious tech analysis. In recent years he’s found fintech and gambling collide with all his interests, so he truly is a great fit to our team.

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