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Deepti Sri · · 6 min readSingaporeans feel ‘betrayed’ by Temasek-backed FTX
The bankruptcy of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto giant FTX has left retail investors in Singapore scrambling to recover large sums of money in a market already bleeding from a slew of company fiascos.
Photo credit: 4kclips / 123RF
From blue-chip venture investors such as Sequoia, SoftBank, and Tiger Global Management to celebrities like NFL legend Tom Brady and fashion model Gisele Bundchen, the three-year-old crypto exchange’s credibility had seemed bulletproof before its collapse.
The company is currently prioritizing returning funds to old and new investors, and then it will focus on employees who have “fought for what’s right for their career,” Bankman-Fried tweeted.
Retail investors who put money on the exchange to save or trade are bearing the brunt of the crisis. Many of them were lured to FTX by a stamp of approval from Singapore state-owned investment firm Temasek – which does not manage taxpayers’ money – and other credible backers.
“I’ve put tens of thousands of dollars into FTX in the hope that I’d get to buy another house or a car sometime soon,” the founder of a crypto firm tells Tech in Asia on the condition of anonymity. “But I’ve no hopes of recovering the funds now.”
FTX vs. Binance
Several investors who spoke to Tech in Asia also drew comparisons between FTX and Binance, which have both tried to obtain licenses from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to offer crypto services in the country.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao / Photo credit: Binance
In September 2021, MAS blocked Binance from providing payment services in Singapore and placed the company on its investor alert list to warn consumers that the exchange does not hold a license. This led to the crypto major closing shop in Singapore, leaving investors with fewer options to park their funds.
Investors preferred using FTX for its cheap trading fees, user-friendly interface, liquidity, and variety of tokens.
“Over the last 30 days, I believe FTX had Singapore as one of the top sign-up countries for such a small country in absolute numbers,” says the anonymous crypto firm founder. “I think this has just been disastrous.”
In January, FTX US raised US$400 million from investors including SoftBank and Temasek, bumping up its valuation to US$8 billion.
What happened to FTX’s Singapore unit?
Crypto after FTX
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The liquidity crunch at FTX has posed substantial financial threats to Singaporean investors despite a stamp of approval from state-backed Temasek.
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