Singapore's Temasek says it's not looking to invest in crypto firms amid current regulatory uncertainties

Singapore's sovereign wealthiness money Temasek is not presently looking to put successful crypto companies amid regulatory uncertainty successful the sector, its main concern serviceman Rohit Sipahimalani said.

"There's a batch of regulatory uncertainty successful this environment. And I bash deliberation that beryllium precise hard for america to marque different concern and speech successful the mediate of each this regulatory uncertainty," Sipahimalani told CNBC successful a Tuesday interview.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged apical U.S. crypto speech Ripple for breaching section securities laws by selling its autochthonal token XRP without archetypal registering it with the regulator.

The SEC separately charged different U.S. crypto speech Coinbase for operating arsenic an unregistered securities exchange, a broker oregon a clearing firm. It besides accused Coinbase of failing to registry the connection and merchantability of its staking programme — which allows customers to gain rewards for holding definite cryptocurrencies.

"If you person the close regulatory framework, and we are comfy with it, and you person the close concern opportunity, there's nary crushed for america to not to look astatine it," Sipahimalani said.

"But arsenic I said, astatine this constituent successful time, we would not beryllium comfy investing successful exchanges fixed the mode things are close now."

He added that Temasek ne'er intended to put successful cryptocurrency.

"We've ne'er been looking to put successful cryptocurrencies. Even the concern successful FTX, we'll beryllium talking astir investing successful an exchange, which allowed america to get fee-based gross without reasoning [of] equilibrium expanse hazard oregon immoderate trading risks," said Sipahimalani.

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

"Firstly, you got to retrieve that the FTX concern was a portion of our early-stage concern strategy, wherever we put successful caller disruptive technologies to spot what's astir the corner, truthful that we tin bring that to our portfolio companies and payment wrong our ecosystem," said Sipahimalani.

"Secondly, we're looking, obviously, for returns to these early-stage companies, but astir apt astir importantly, we're looking to find the adjacent winners that we tin treble down on, arsenic they interruption out. And galore of them go yet a halfway portion of our portfolio."

He referred to companies similar Alibaba and Meituan arsenic specified companies.

"We admit investments astatine that level is binary and risky, and truthful we trust connected diversification. We headdress early-stage investments astatine 6% of our portfolio," helium added.

Temasek did the indispensable owed diligence for an early-stage concern erstwhile considering FTX, Sipahimalani said, and yet went up due to the fact that FTX "had bully exertion was gaining marketplace share, and showed a willingness to prosecute with regulators and beryllium licensed."

But ultimately, it is "very hard to ever uncover that owed diligence," said Sipahimalani.

"When we bash aboriginal signifier investing, that determination volition beryllium immoderate losses, immoderate write-offs, but, importantly for us, the full portfolio of aboriginal signifier investments should bash well."