Crypto tycoon donations to Reform hit £20m

Several of Reform UK’s ongoing financial scandals involve questionable payments from crypto tycoons. The key issue in several of the controversies is that Reform and its politicians either failed to declare these amounts or they received them in a somewhat suspicious manner. The reason this issue is key is because people like Nigel Farage subsequently went on to shill for the crypto industry.

Some of the disputed donations and gifts are the subject of investigations. Depending on how those investigations pan out, Reform politicians may have to think twice about courting the crypto industry in future. For now, though, the party is absolutely raking it in:

£20m

According to new analysis from the Independent, a full 60% of Reform UK’s declared donations come from individuals linked to crypto. The bulk of this – £15m – comes from one Christopher Harborne. This, of course, is the man who also gave Farage the undeclared £5m gift in 2024.

The Independent added:

Other donors include Ben Peter Delo, the founder of cryptocurrency trading platform BitMex, who gave two £2m payments to the party this year and Maria Rost, the wife of US crypto investor John Rost, who has given nine payments worth £125,000.

Simon William Smith, a London-based bitcoin investor who founded a company which allows content creators to sell their content in exchange for Bitcoin, donated £116,000 ahead of the general election in 2024. Oscar Townsley, the founder of Bitcoin derivatives trading firm A1X, gave the party £30,000 last year.