Singapore’s Temasek not interested to invest in crypto in face of uncertainties

Investing in crypto is currently not on the table for state-owned global investment firm Temasek amidst uncertainty and recent collapses of crypto exchanges like FTX

Original story by Sheila Chang for CNBC

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek is not currently looking to invest in crypto companies, citing regulatory uncertainty in the sector, its Chief Investment Officer Rohit Sipahimalani said.

“There’s a lot of regulatory uncertainty in this environment. And I do think [that it will be very difficult] for us to make another investment and exchange in the middle of all this regulatory uncertainty,” Sipahimalani told CNBC in a Tuesday interview.

“If you have the right regulatory framework, and we are comfortable with it, and you have the right investment opportunity, there’s no reason for us to not to look at it,” Sipahimalani said.

He added that Temasek never intended to invest in cryptocurrency.

“We’ve never been looking to invest in cryptocurrencies. Even with the investment in FTX, we’ll be talking about investing in an exchange, which allows us to get fee-based revenue without thinking [of] balance sheet risk or any trading risks,” said Sipahimalani.

On Tuesday, Temasek posted its worst returns since 2016, weighed by macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges.

Temasek announced in mid-November that it will be writing down its $275 million investment in FTX to zero.

U.S.-based crypto exchange FTX went bankrupt that same month. The company had more than 100,000 creditors, as well as liabilities between $10 billion and $50 billion, according to its bankruptcy filing.

Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong called the loss “disappointing” and damaging for Singapore’s reputation.

In May, Temasek then announced it is cutting the salaries of responsible staff, after initiating an internal review of its FTX investment — which Sipahimalani described as Temasek’s strategy to “find the next winners.”

Learn more about Sheila Chang’s report for the CNBC, including the recent crackdown of the  SEC against crypto exchanges like Ripple and Coinbase in the United States.

Sipahamalani has also furthered on other implications on this development in the original article here