Singapore’s mega-investment firm Temasek joins Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency effort
(2020/05/18)
- Reference: 1589763432
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/05/18/temasek_joins_libra/
- Source link:
Singapore’s state-owned investment firm Temasek holdings has joined the Facebook-led Libra not-a-cryptocurrency project.
Temasek is Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund and has over $330bn under management. The company invests in plenty of tech outfits, [1]listing Alibaba, Tencent and Dell Technologies in its portfolio (having previously helped Dell to acquire EMC). The company doesn’t only back blue chips and whales: it also funds more than a few startups.
Chinese numerologists are betting Dell/EMC deal will make them rich [2]READ MORE
Temasek’s [3]Tweeted announcement of its participation in Libra said: “Looking forward to the potential of this #blockchain-based digital currency, and how it can help create a regulated global network for cost effective retail payments”. Libra’s [4]canned statement said the investment firm “sees innovative technologies such as blockchain as transformative enablers of growth” and wishes to “support and advance the use of blockchain technology across a range of use cases, asset classes and sectors, reflects its drive to explore, develop and invest in solutions to bring about a better, smarter, and more sustainable world.”
Both parties are keeping the news quite low-key, but the timing of Temasek’s news is good given Libra recently [5]pivoted to a less-ambitious model after less-than-enthusiastic reception to its plans. Throw in the fact that few of Libra's backers have anywhere near Temasek's size or credibility, and this is good news for the Facebook-founded cryptocurrency. That Temasek likes to focus its efforts in Asia, and has stakes in major Chinese e-commerce companies, makes the new alignment even more portentous. ®
[1] https://www.temasek.com.sg/en/what-we-do/our-portfolio/telecommunications-media-technology
[2] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/06/17/chinese_numerologists_betting_dellemc_will_make_them_rich/
[3] https://twitter.com/Temasek/status/1261135584631767040
[4] https://libra.org/en-US/updates/new-members/
[5] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/04/16/facebook_libra_relaunch/
Temasek is Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund and has over $330bn under management. The company invests in plenty of tech outfits, [1]listing Alibaba, Tencent and Dell Technologies in its portfolio (having previously helped Dell to acquire EMC). The company doesn’t only back blue chips and whales: it also funds more than a few startups.
Chinese numerologists are betting Dell/EMC deal will make them rich [2]READ MORE
Temasek’s [3]Tweeted announcement of its participation in Libra said: “Looking forward to the potential of this #blockchain-based digital currency, and how it can help create a regulated global network for cost effective retail payments”. Libra’s [4]canned statement said the investment firm “sees innovative technologies such as blockchain as transformative enablers of growth” and wishes to “support and advance the use of blockchain technology across a range of use cases, asset classes and sectors, reflects its drive to explore, develop and invest in solutions to bring about a better, smarter, and more sustainable world.”
Both parties are keeping the news quite low-key, but the timing of Temasek’s news is good given Libra recently [5]pivoted to a less-ambitious model after less-than-enthusiastic reception to its plans. Throw in the fact that few of Libra's backers have anywhere near Temasek's size or credibility, and this is good news for the Facebook-founded cryptocurrency. That Temasek likes to focus its efforts in Asia, and has stakes in major Chinese e-commerce companies, makes the new alignment even more portentous. ®
[1] https://www.temasek.com.sg/en/what-we-do/our-portfolio/telecommunications-media-technology
[2] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/06/17/chinese_numerologists_betting_dellemc_will_make_them_rich/
[3] https://twitter.com/Temasek/status/1261135584631767040
[4] https://libra.org/en-US/updates/new-members/
[5] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/04/16/facebook_libra_relaunch/
Libra
From David Gerard ( [1]https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/2020/04/16/facebooks-libra-national-currency-tokens-a-new-white-paper-what-this-means/ ):
Facebook is slowly being dragged, kicking and screaming, to running Libra like an ordinary, compliant payments processor — PayPal, but it’s Facebook — or Libra won’t be allowed to exist.
The only interesting things the blockchain parts could do is work around regulations — and there’s no way regulators will let Libra do anything like that.
Libra was founded on Bitcoin dreams — but none of those aspirations will ever happen, because they contradict everything about how finance works in the real world.
If you’ve looked over previous versions of the white paper, you’ll want to read this one afresh, closely.
Just focus on the bits about regulation. Ignore the wild crypto aspirations — because none of those are going to be allowed to happen.
Crypto dreams are tolerated when they’re put forward by weird small-time nutters — but not when they’re coming from a huge company with a continent-sized user base.
[1] https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/2020/04/16/facebooks-libra-national-currency-tokens-a-new-white-paper-what-this-means/