Bitcoin billionaires give Nigel Farage’s Reform UK £72m in 48 hours

London: Cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne says he has donated £36 million ($67.9 million) to Britain’s anti-immigration Reform UK, matching an already record contribution to Nigel Farage’s party a day earlier as it prepares for the next election.

The donation gives the veteran Brexit campaigner’s party £72 million from two donors in less than 48 hours at a time when it is confronting allegations about irregularities in its funding, which it denies. The donations come amid a resurgence in right-wing politics across Europe since the re-election of US President Donald Trump.

The figure exceeds what either the Labour Party or the Conservatives spent during last year’s election campaign, according to Electoral Commission figures. The money will help Reform, whose lead in opinion polls has slipped over the funding allegations, work to win over voters before the next election, which is due by 2029.

Harborne, already Reform’s biggest donor, disclosed the contribution in a Telegraph newspaper article on Saturday, saying fellow crypto investor Ben Delo’s pledge a day earlier had inspired him to match it.

“What do I expect in return for my donations? Nothing. No peerage, no policy change, just a party that is ready for government,” Harborne wrote in the article.

Delo’s donation on Friday had already dwarfed the previous record of £10 million that British businessman John Sainsbury, who died in 2022, had left to the Conservatives, according to the Electoral Commission’s online database.

Reform has said that if it comes to power, it would propose a law to boost crypto adoption, including by cutting capital gains tax for digital assets and creating a bitcoin reserve fund at the Bank of England.

The donation comes little more than a week after Reform was hit by allegations that two senior aides to Farage had helped arrange for a foreign donor to fund political polling, claims which the party denies.

Earlier in September, Reform said head of policy James Orr and Farage adviser Dan Jukes had stepped down pending an internal investigation after an undercover investigation broadcast by Channel 4 alleged the party had broken electoral law by arranging for a US company to pay for polling commissioned by the party.

Reform has denied any wrongdoing, saying it had been targeted in a hoax by climate activists. Farage has said the party had broken no laws and had not taken any improper donations.

Labour has asked police to investigate possible offences linked to the allegations. Police said they were assessing information provided to them, while the Electoral Commission said it was considering the claims and was in contact with law enforcement.

On Friday, Delo, the British co-founder of cryptocurrency trading platform BitMEX who was convicted of a US Bank Secrecy Act violation and later pardoned by President Donald Trump, said he would donate £36 million to Reform.

Delo said he wanted the party to spend less time fundraising and more time preparing for government, arguing it needed resources to compete with Labour and the Conservatives.

Farage welcomed the backing from both men.

“I am honoured and humbled that Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne have shown such confidence in Reform,” he said in a statement.

“Both men know that we are the only party that can turn the country around and win the next general election. Thanks to their generosity, we are now able to fight that election on a level playing field.”

Last week the hard-right Alternative for Germany won a majority of votes in an east German state.

Sweden’s national election on Sunday also raises the prospect of a far-right party winning government for the first time, which would upset the liberalism the country has long been known for.

The centre-left opposition has a slim lead in the polls, though the ruling centre-right party has been making up ground.

Reuters

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.

Remove items from your saved list to add more.

AdvertisementAdvertisement