Second-Largest Wealth Fund Temasek To Stop Investing In Crypto Industry

The 2nd-biggest wealth fund in Singapore “Temasek Holdings” is undergoing some trouble because of the regulatory uncertainty dealing with digital assets. The platform’s chief investment officer Rohit Sipahimalani disclosed that the company the respective situation has compelled it to stop its investments in the crypto industry.

Temasek Announces that It Is Terminating Crypto-Related Investments

While appearing at a press conference, the executive mentioned that justifying the respective decision is a quite difficult thing. The position of the wealth fund comes only after GIC. The company organizes a portfolio of nearly S$382B (almost $284.65B), chiefly across Asia and Singapore. During the press conference, the company brought to the front a slump of up to 5.2% in its portfolio’s value as compared with S$403B (approximately $301.1B) in March.

Temasek disclosed that even though the platform’s city-state-related investments have maintained their pace, its straight investments’ worth across the globe has witnessed a decrease in the previous couple of years. The company invested above $200M into the now-defunct crypto exchange named FTX for a one percent stake back in the year 2021.

Following that, it further invested $65M in the US subsidiary of the crypto exchange. In addition to this, the platform also allocated $100M to be invested in Animoca Brands (the biggest blockchain-related investment platform). The respective investment was carried out via convertible bonds while it pursued exposure to the Web3 world.

Temasek’s executive revealed that the early-stage investment of the company in FTX took place after due diligence. It also pointed out that the exchange’s increasing market share and energetic regulatory engagement prompted the respective investment decision. After the collapse of FTX back in November last year, Temasek rapidly noticed the entirety of the investments made into the crypto exchange.

Apart from that, the platform also punished the executives as well as the team participants who were responsible for the aforementioned investments in May this year. As a result of this, the salaries of the responsible executives were minimized. The executive stated that the company has never been pursuing crypto-related investments.

The Firm Complains against the Uncertain Regulatory Sphere and Lack of Agendas Regarding Crypto

As per the reports, the executive added that the platform would not feel convenient while investing in crypto exchanges amid the current conditions of the industry. According to him, if the regulations become transparent and agendas are formulated, there is a possibility that the company would consider making investments in the future.

The Sipahimalani moved on to specify that this would only happen if the platform also finds a good opportunity. Singapore as well as the rest of the nations in Asia along with the competing countries have kept on implementing strict regulations on digital assets, taking into account the provisions targeting the prohibition on the centralized staking and lending services.