Crypto Donations Power Reform UK’s Funding Surge

Electoral Commission data show that Reform UK has received roughly £20 million in donations from individuals linked to the cryptocurrency sector since the 2024 general election, accounting for about 60 percent of the party’s total funding. The largest single contribution, £15 million, came from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, while an additional £5 million donation to party leader Nigel Farage remains undeclared and is the subject of a parliamentary probe. Other notable donors include BitMex founder Ben Peter Delo (£2 million × 2), Maria Rost (£125 000 across nine payments), Bitcoin-content platform founder Simon William Smith (£116 000), and Bitcoin-derivatives trader Oscar Townsley (£30 000). By contrast, the Conservative Party recorded £82 250 in crypto-related donations from hedge-fund manager Alan Eldad Howard, and no comparable crypto donations were identified for Labour, the Liberal Democrats or the Green Party.

The Independent

Reform’s crypto inflow does not include £614 000 in declared payments tied to the sector that Farage himself reported. The party has used its newfound resources to promote a “crypto revolution,” drafting a Cryptoassets and Digital Finance Bill that would cut taxes on crypto profits and establish a Treasury bitcoin reserve fund. The draft legislation has since been removed from Reform’s website. Farage has pledged to make London a leading global crypto trading hub if Reform wins a future general election.

The Independent

Labour politicians have warned that the influx of crypto money threatens democratic integrity.

The Independent

• “But if it walks like a duck and it talks like a duck, you can see why people are squawking.” — Labour MP Catherine West

The Independent

• “In the US, President Trump has profited personally from liberalising the rules around cryptocurrencies. It would be regrettable if the UK became a place where politicians used power over independent regulators for their own personal enrichment.” — MP Harriet Baldwin, former chair of the Treasury committee

The Independent