Singapore’s state-owned investment fund Temasek does not plan to put money into crypto firms amid the current regulatory uncertainty, according to a top executive. The statement comes months after Temasek lost $275 million from its involvement in the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
Temasek to Refrain From Investments in Crypto Companies for Now
The sovereign wealth fund Temasek, owned by the Singapore government, is not currently looking to invest in companies dealing with crypto asserts due to the regulatory uncertainty in the industry, its Chief Investment Officer, Rohit Sipahimalani, said in an interview on Tuesday. Speaking with CNBC, he elaborated:
There’s a lot of regulatory uncertainty in this environment. And I do think that be very difficult for us to make another investment and exchange in the middle of all this regulatory uncertainty.
Sipahimalani’s comments come at a time when the crypto sector finds itself under heightened pressure from regulators around the world and lack of comprehensive regulations in many jurisdictions, in the aftermath of the collapses of several major industry players last year.
Among the high-profile crashes of 2022 was that of FTX, one of the largest trading platforms for digital assets before it filed for bankruptcy protection last fall. Temasek had made a $275 million investment in the crypto exchange but it announced in November it will be writing it down.
“We’ve never been looking to invest in cryptocurrencies. Even the investment in FTX, we’ll be talking about investing in an exchange, which allowed us to get fee-based revenue without thinking [of] balance sheet risk or any trading risks,” Sipahimalani explained. He did not rule out future investments in the crypto space but emphasized:
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.
“But as I said, at this point in time, we would not be comfortable investing in exchanges given the way things are right now,” the executive pointed out. His statements follow Temasek posting its worst returns in seven years against the backdrop of macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges, the report notes.
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