Nigel Farage’s Reform UK topped first-quarter fundraising among British political parties after receiving 7 million British pounds, or about $9.4 million, from two crypto-linked billionaires. The donations pushed the party ahead of both Labour and the Conservatives, which each received around $5.4 million during the same period. The striking signal is crypto wealth moving into mainstream party finance, at a moment when Reform UK is presenting digital assets as part of its policy identity.
Crypto donors reshape Reform UK’s funding picture
The largest disclosed gifts came from Christopher Harborne, who has a stake in stablecoin issuer Tether, and Ben Delo, co-founder of crypto exchange BitMEX. Harborne donated about $4 million, while Delo gave about $5.4 million, making him a first-time donor to Reform UK. The latest figures also lifted Harborne’s total contributions to the party to about $20 million over the past year. The scale makes the fundraising surge difficult to treat as ordinary political momentum, because Reform’s first-quarter total rose sixfold from roughly $2 million in the same period last year.
The money lands alongside a clear pro-crypto platform. Reform UK has said it was the first British political party to accept Bitcoin donations, while Farage has proposed cutting capital gains tax on crypto to 10% from 24%. He has also called for the Bank of England to create a Bitcoin reserve. The party is linking fundraising and policy symbolism, turning digital assets into both a donor base and a campaign message.
The backdrop is not without scrutiny. Harborne separately gave Farage a $6.7 million personal gift that is facing a parliamentary standards inquiry over whether it should have been registered. Farage has said the gift did not need to be declared because it was made before he became a member of parliament and was used for personal security. He later said it was connected to his campaign for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union. The uncomfortable question is where political support ends and influence concerns begin, especially as crypto money becomes more visible across public campaigns. With total party funding also more than doubling from a year earlier, Reform’s quarter shows how digital-asset fortunes are no longer sitting outside politics, but becoming part of its financial machinery.
