Singapore state investor Temasek wrote its entire US$275 million investment in collapsed crypto exchange FTX down to zero in November 2022, conceding that its belief in founder Sam Bankman-Fried appeared to have been misplaced. The loss prompted an internal review and parliamentary questions over how eight months of due diligence missed a fraud.
Temasek's exposure was built across two funding rounds between October 2021 and January 2022: US$210 million for about 1% of FTX International and US$65 million for about 1.5% of FTX US. When FTX imploded in November 2022 amid revelations that customer funds had been diverted to trading firm Alameda Research, Temasek moved immediately to write the stake to nothing, regardless of the outcome of bankruptcy proceedings.
The sums were small against Temasek's balance sheet — about 0.09% of a net portfolio valued at S$403 billion in March 2022 — and the firm stressed it had no direct exposure to cryptocurrencies, characterising FTX as an exchange-infrastructure investment. It also detailed an extensive due-diligence process lasting roughly eight months in 2021, covering financial statements, regulatory risk and cybersecurity, conducted alongside other blue-chip backers such as BlackRock and Sequoia Capital.
None of that insulated it politically. In Parliament, then Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said the episode had caused not only financial loss but reputational damage, called FTX a very badly managed company involving possible fraud and misappropriation, and confirmed Temasek had launched an internal review by an independent team to improve its processes. He resisted calls for new parliamentary oversight of Temasek and GIC, arguing their governance was already extensive and boards should be insulated from political pressure, while conceding investment losses are inherent in risk-taking.
The reputational question cut deeper than the money. Temasek is a flagship of Singapore's claim to disciplined, technocratic stewardship; its imprimatur had been used by FTX in fundraising as evidence of legitimacy. To have conducted eight months of diligence and still missed fabricated finances became the central embarrassment, raising the possibility that diligence processes built for ordinary companies cannot detect a founder actively concealing fraud — the defence Temasek implicitly offered.
Years later, the shadow remains visible in strategy. Temasek executives have repeatedly said the firm holds no direct cryptocurrency investments and remains cautious about the sector while pursuing blockchain infrastructure and, increasingly, artificial intelligence. In 2026 its chief investment officer was still being asked to confirm that crypto was off the table.
FTX therefore occupies a unique place in Singapore corporate history: financially immaterial, symbolically enormous. A US$275 million lesson, absorbed without denting the portfolio, bought a permanent caveat for every future Temasek endorsement — that the most sophisticated diligence in the world is a probability exercise, and Sam Bankman-Fried was the tail risk with a face.