Investment giant Temasek is concerned about regulatory uncertainty! Not considering investing in the crypto industry in the short term.

Temasek, the investment company controlled by the Singapore government, recently expressed its views on cryptocurrency investments. Due to regulatory factors, Temasek, which had previously invested heavily in FTX, will not be looking to invest in the crypto industry in the short term.

Temasek Investment Chief: Difficult to Engage in Crypto Investments Currently

According to a report by CNBC, Temasek's investment chief, Rohit Sipahimalani, stated at a press conference held in Singapore yesterday, July 11, "There is a lot of regulatory uncertainty in the current environment, making it difficult for us to make investments and trades."

Over the past year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has faced numerous complaints from crypto firms, claiming that the SEC has not provided suitable guidelines for them to follow. However, in response, the SEC has taken enforcement actions over the past few months, suing major exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase for alleged securities law violations.

"If we have the right regulatory framework and we are comfortable with it, and if there are suitable investment opportunities, we have no reason not to consider it," Sipahimalani said.

However, given the current situation, Temasek will not feel at ease investing in exchanges or starting to invest in any cryptocurrencies, Sipahimalani stated:

"We have never attempted to invest in cryptocurrencies. Even the investment in FTX is only in the exchange, allowing us to earn fee-based revenues without having to consider balance sheet risks or any trading risks."

Temasek Discusses FTX, Seeking to Invest in Disruptive Technology

After FTX filed for bankruptcy in November last year, Temasek, which had invested approximately $275 million in FTX from October 2021 to January 2022, announced in the same month that it was taking a loss.

In May this year, after an internal review, Temasek announced that despite not finding any misconduct by the investment team, the team and relevant executives would be held jointly responsible and face salary reductions.

Yesterday, Sipahimalani also explained the investment in FTX, stating that FTX was part of Temasek's early investment strategy in investing in new disruptive technologies, with hopes of benefiting from it.

"We are looking for the next winners so that when they explode, we can double down on them. Many of these companies eventually become core parts of our investment portfolio," Sipahimalani said.

Alibaba and Meituan, two major Chinese companies, were early investments by Temasek. However, the investment in FTX did turn out to be a failure, despite Temasek claiming to have conducted 8 months of due diligence but still could not completely eliminate risks.

For this investment giant, the proportion of early investments will not exceed 6% of the overall investment portfolio, and the investment in FTX only accounts for 0.09% of its total value of $403 billion, making the reputational damage seem more severe compared to the actual losses incurred.