TL;DR
- Ben Delo donated £4 million, about $5.3 million, to Reform UK during the April-to-June quarter, representing roughly 75% of the party’s private donations.
- Delo pleaded guilty to violating Bank Secrecy Act, paid a $10 million fine, received probation and was pardoned by Donald Trump in March 2025.
- His political giving adds to £2 million donations in January and March, highlighting the role of crypto wealth in Reform UK’s funding base.
Ben Delo, billionaire co-founder of crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX, has become one of Reform UK’s biggest financial backers after donating £4 million, or about $5.3 million, during the April-to-June quarter. Electoral Commission figures released September 3 show the contribution represented roughly 75% of the £5.33 million in private donations accepted by the party during that period. The remarkable development is that a crypto executive pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump now sits near the center of British political fundraising. Delo’s latest contribution follows earlier multimillion-pound donations made this year across the latest reporting period.
Reform UK’s Funding Base Draws Growing Crypto Wealth
Delo’s political prominence comes after a notable legal history in the United States. He co-founded BitMEX with Arthur Hayes and Samuel Reed in 2014 and pleaded guilty in February 2022 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act by willfully failing to establish and maintain an adequate anti-money laundering program. His return to public political activity follows a conviction that resulted in a $10 million criminal fine and 30 months of probation. Trump granted Delo a full and unconditional pardon in March 2025, covering his conviction in United States v. Delo after years of scrutiny.
The £4 million contribution was not Delo’s first support for Reform UK. Electoral records show the party accepted £2 million from him on January 14 and another £2 million on March 2. Taken together, those donations make Delo an increasingly important source of private financing for Nigel Farage’s party. Reform’s £5.33 million in private donations during the April-to-June quarter exceeded Labour’s £3.59 million, excluding public funds, and the Conservatives’ £2.81 million. Another crypto investor, Christopher Harborne, also gave Reform £3 million in January during the latest reporting period.
The fundraising surge arrives as Britain tightens rules around political donations from citizens living overseas. New measures introduce a £100,000 annual limit for some overseas donors, increasing scrutiny around large contributions to political parties. The broader story is not simply Delo’s rise as a donor, but the growing role of crypto wealth inside Reform UK’s financing network. His pardon, legal history and expanding political spending combine into an unusual overlap of digital-asset fortunes, U.S. presidential clemency and British party funding as regulators and voters examine how major private donations shape political influence across the political system throughout an increasingly important fundraising phase for Reform.
