Temasek Says Its FTX Investment Is Now Worth Zero

Singapore's state investment fund Temasek has written off its entire investment in FTX, saying that its overall exposure to the failed exchange is negligible compared to its broad portfolio holdings.

In a statement released Thursday morning, Temasek said that the $210 million investment, which accounted for 1% of FTX International, and $65 million for 1.5% of FTX.US, represents 0.09% of the firm's net portfolio value of $293.5 billion (SGD 403 billion).

"There have been misperceptions that our investment in FTX is an investment into cryptocurrencies. To clarify, we currently have no direct exposure in cryptocurrencies," the firm said in a statement.

Temasek said that the failure of its investment in FTX isn't an indictment against cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, but rather a poor bet on Bankman-Fried.

“It is apparent from this investment that perhaps our belief in the actions, judgment and leadership of Sam Bankman-Fried, formed from our interactions with him and views expressed in our discussions with others, would appear to have been misplaced,” Temasek said. "While this write down of our investment in FTX will not have significant impact on our overall performance, we treat any investment losses seriously, and there will be learnings for us from this."

Before investing, Temasek said that it did eight months of due diligence on FTX, reviewing its audited financial statements, analyzing regulatory risk, and cyber security threats.

"Separately, we also gathered qualitative feedback on the company and management team based on interviews with people familiar with the company, including employees, industry participants, and other investors," it said.

Last week Sequoia Capital announced that it was writing down its $200 million investment in the exchange to zero.