Temasek denies investing in Array as another crypto project issues confusing announcement

Quick Take

  • Reports published yesterday suggested the state-owned fund had invested $10 million in Array, an algorithmic currency startup.
  • But Temasek strongly denied doing so in a statement issued today.

Singapore’s state-owned investment fund Temasek issued a statement denying it had invested in a crypto startup named Array.

Reports published yesterday suggested Temasek had invested $10 million in Array, an algorithmic currency system that on also claims to use AI. The investment supposedly brought the project’s valuation to more than $100 million. But Temasek took to Twitter today to deny those reports.

“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,” it said in a statement.

Array, which had shared coverage of the supposed Temasek investment yesterday via its Twitter account, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The project lists a bevy of top-tier investors on its website alongside Temasek, including Binance Labs, the venture arm of the biggest crypto exchange. Binance Labs has also not invested, a spokesperson told The Block. 

Temasek's FTX losses 

Temasek was forced to write down its $275 million bet on Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX to zero in November last year, after the crypto exchange and its subsidiaries collapsed in spectacular fashion. The investment firm said at the time that the episode had “demonstrated what we have identified previously — the nascency of the blockchain and crypto industry and the innumerable opportunities as well as significant risks involved.”

The denials from Temasek and Binance Labs come less than two weeks after a similar episode involving OPNX, the crypto exchange founded by Su Zhu and Kyle Davies, the people behind the collapsed hedge fund Three Arrows Capital. After OPNX unveiled a list of supposed investors in the new endeavor on April 21, several names on the list — including RW and Nascent — were quick to distance themselves from the project entirely. 


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About Author

Ryan Weeks is deals editor at the The Block, focused on fundraising, M&A and institutional trends in the crypto space, among other things. He is particularly interested in investigative work — so please send tips! Ryan previously worked at Financial News, Dow Jones as a fintech correspondent in London. Prior to that, he wrote for several different publications, including Sifted, AltFi and Wired. Beyond journalism, Ryan is a keen reader and writer. He enjoys all things active, especially running, rugby, climbing and tennis.

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