Singapore’s Temasek Punishes Execs Who Invested In FTX

The decision to back the exchange, which negatively impacted Temasek’s reputation, has resulted in a pay cut for those behind its doomed $275 million investment

article-image

LekaSergeeva/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

Singapore state holding company Temasek said Sunday it has taken action against the team and senior management behind its $275 million investment into FTX.

The decision to back the exchange, which adversely affected its reputation, has led to a reduction in the salaries of the team members involved, according to a statement.

It follows an independent internal review by an outside party whose findings were presented to the city-state’s sustainability board

While the review found no misconduct from team members had occurred, Temasek’s decision to reprimand its employees can be viewed as an attempt to save face.

Those responsible have also accepted “collective accountability” for investing $210 million into the global exchange for a 1% minority stake, Temasek said.  A further $65 million in investments were made to the exchange’s US subsidiary in October 2021 through to January 2022. 

Following the exchange’s downfall in early November of last year, Temasek immediately moved to write down all of its FTX investments.

The holding company is one of two major sovereign wealth funds owned by the government of Singapore. Incorporated in 1974, the company manages a portfolio of around S$403 billion ($297.8 billion) as of March 2022, primarily in Singapore and across the Asia region.

Registering disappointment with the outcome of its investment, Temasek called out FTX’s “fraudulent” activity in the statement as being “intentionally hidden” from investors.

For its part, Singapore has attempted to distance itself from blame that it could have done more to prevent financial harm to citizens and entities within its borders.

“Nevertheless, we are disappointed with the outcome of our investment and the negative impact on our reputation,” the fund said.

CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and other top executives stand accused of diverting crypto valued in the billions from FTX to its trading unit Alameda Research, which subsequently lost the funds through high-risk market bets.

As a result, the exchange business is alleged to have caused significant losses for numerous investors, leading to a prolonged and widespread sell-off across the industry.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

🚀 Build What’s Next — Permissionless IV Hackathon Join us June 22–23 in Brooklyn for the Permissionless IV Hackathon — a 36-hour sprint hosted by Cracked Labs and Blockworks where top builders turn ideas into real products. Come to launch, not just […]

recent research

Research Report Templates (10).png

Research

Kamino has evolved into a full-stack asset scaling suite with V2: unlocking new markets, improving capital efficiency, and catering to various risk profiles. We believe it is best positioned to become the credit backbone of Solana as the ecosystem matures. Simply put, KMNO remains our highest-conviction bet in the Solana ecosystem. This report lays out our thesis.

article-image

Greenwood was a success story before it was a tragedy

article-image

All eight included staking in their most recent SEC filings

article-image

With an updated Summary of Economic Projections, the Fed sees growth slowing and inflation increasing

article-image

Where do crypto mobile games go from here?

article-image

Bybit’s Byreal, Binance Alpha and Coinbase’s DEX integrations

article-image

This isn’t the worst hack to ever hit Mt. Gox, but it could be the most entertaining