Singapore’s Temasek Holdings has reaffirmed that direct investments in cryptocurrencies remain off-limits, more than four years after it wrote down its $275 million stake in the collapsed FTX exchange.
In an interview published by CNBC on July 9, Nagi Hamiyeh, president of Temasek Global Investments, said the sovereign wealth fund has “no direct investment in crypto” and is unlikely to change course without greater regulatory clarity on how digital assets fit into the broader economy.
The comments mark the clearest restatement of Temasek’s post-FTX position since the 2022 debacle, which drew sharp domestic criticism in Singapore and forced the fund to publicly distance itself from speculative token exposure.
The scar that still shapes policy
The FTX collapse remains a defining event for Temasek. The $275 million writedown not only hit its returns but also damaged Singapore’s carefully cultivated reputation as a prudent financial hub. Then-Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong had described the episode as “disappointing.”
Since then, Temasek has drawn a sharp line between crypto tokens and blockchain infrastructure. While it has avoided direct bets on cryptocurrencies or token speculation, the fund has continued to back companies building real-world applications of distributed ledger technology.
Notable examples include its 2022 investment in Animoca Brands, where Temasek led a funding round into the Hong Kong-based web3 and gaming company. It has also backed Partior, a blockchain-based institutional payments platform co-founded with DBS and later joined by J.P. Morgan and Standard Chartered. In addition, Temasek founded Superscrypt, an early-stage Web3 venture fund focused on protocols and applications.
The fund has also shown interest in tokenized real-world assets, though these exposures are framed as infrastructure or enterprise plays rather than crypto investments.
A tale of two sovereign strategies
Temasek’s caution stands in contrast to the approach taken by other major sovereign wealth funds.
Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company has been an active buyer of spot Bitcoin ETFs, building a position worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Luxembourg’s Intergenerational Sovereign Wealth Fund went further, allocating 1% of its portfolio directly to Bitcoin.
The divergence highlights different risk appetites and mandates among state-backed investors. While some sovereign funds view Bitcoin and digital assets as a strategic allocation in a bifurcated global financial system, Temasek appears to be prioritizing regulatory and reputational guardrails over direct token exposure.
Hamiyeh acknowledged the uncertainty, stating he “can’t forecast what happens in the future” regarding crypto’s role in the mainstream economy, depending on how different jurisdictions ultimately regulate the sector.
AI takes center stage
With crypto kept at arm’s length, Temasek is instead directing significant capital toward artificial intelligence. The fund aims to increase its AI-related exposure from 6% of its portfolio to 15% by 2031.
Hamiyeh emphasized that Temasek is less focused on frontier AI models and more interested in companies that successfully integrate AI into their operations to build durable competitive advantages. The longest-term bet, he said, lies in physical AI applications — robotics, automation, and industrial optimization — as well as supporting infrastructure such as energy and data centers.
This shift aligns with a broader institutional move away from the high-volatility crypto narrative of 2021–2022 toward more established technological megatrends.
Regulatory clarity as the potential unlock
Despite its current stance, Temasek has left a narrow door open. Hamiyeh’s reference to regulatory developments suggests the fund is watching how frameworks evolve, particularly in major markets.
In the United States, the GENIUS Act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins), passed in 2025, established a regulatory structure for payment stablecoins. The CLARITY Act (Digital Asset Market Clarity Act), which seeks to create a broader market structure framework for digital assets, has advanced through congressional committees and remains under active consideration in 2026.
Should these or similar regimes provide clearer rules around custody, market structure, and institutional participation, Temasek’s posture could shift—at least toward more infrastructure and tokenized asset exposure, if not direct crypto holdings. For now, however, the message from Singapore’s largest state investor is consistent: speculative crypto remains off-limits, while blockchain technology applied to real economic activity continues to receive selective support.
