Crypto Billionaires Fuel Farage's Party with £72 Million

Reform UK has received £72 million from two crypto billionaires through matching donations. Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo, co-founder of BitMEX, donated £36 million each to Nigel Farage's party within 24 hours.

The donations were announced after The Guardian reported that Harborne gave £36 million on one day following Delo's equal contribution the previous day. This matched the largest individual political donation in the UK, according to the newspaper.

Neither donor revealed how they transferred their contributions, but reports did not link them to cryptocurrency exchanges or stablecoin issuers. Reform UK maintains that both donations comply with current laws and Electoral Commission rules.

The government plans to cap qualifying overseas-elector donations at £100,000 annually, with retrospective application after enactment. This could affect Harborne and Delo's contributions, which represented roughly 76% of Reform's privately raised money during the first quarter.