Singapore State-Owned Temasek Denies $10M Investment in Array

Only a few hours after it was announced that Singapore government-owned investment firm Temasek invested about $10 million in Array, the former has denied the undertaking. The news of the investment was made by Array, the developer of an algorithm currency system which runs on smart contracts and artificial intelligence (AI). 

Per a published statement by Temasek, 

“We have seen news articles and a tweet from Array about Temasek’s investment in it. This news is incorrect. Temasek has not invested in Array and we have no relationship with them.” 

Markedly, Array listed other top-tier entities that joined Temasek in the investment. Binance Labs, the venture capital arm of a leading cryptocurrency exchange made it to the list although a Binance spokesperson claims that no investment has been made in this regard. In its announcement on Monday, May 1st, Array explained that the fund had raised the project’s valuation to about $100 million.

A similar episode had transpired between top venture capital firms DRW and Nascent, and OPNX, a cryptocurrency exchange founded by Su Zhu and Kyle Davies after 3AC collapsed. After announcing a long list of investors which included DRW and Nascent, many of them denied having any involvement with the new business. 

Like OPNX and its so-called investors, no one knows for sure who is telling the truth between Temasek and Array.

Temasek Write Down $275M After FTX Contagion

Temasek was dealt a huge blow by the implosion of Bahamian-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange FTX under the leadership of Sam Bankman-Fried. 

The Singapore state-owned firm suffered a contagion of $275 million in FTX but was forced to write down the debt amidst the FTX bankruptcy proceeding. This was the case with some entities like Metaplex Studio, block to and many others.

According to Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, the loss did more than financial damage to the firm as there was also reputation damage to Temasek.

Furthermore, he said “The fact that other leading global institutional investors like BlackRock and Sequoia Capital also invested in FTX does not mitigate this. The loss did not mean state investor Temasek’s governance system was not working.” 

It is worth noting that the $275 million represented 0.09% of Temasek’s $403 billion portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2022.

Following the FTX collapse, Temasek pointed fingers at the nascent and high-risk nature of blockchain technology and the crypto industry as shortcomings that had previously been mentioned.