Crypto billionaires help Reform cement fundraising lead

Here is the latest breaking news from around the world: Crypto billionaires help Reform cement fundraising lead26 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GooglePaul SeddonPolitical reporterGetty ImagesReform UK received £7m from two overseas British crypto billionaires earlier this year, figures show, helping it cement its fundraising lead in recent months. Hong Kong-based businessman Ben Delo gave £4m to Nigel Farage's party, according to latest filings, whilst Christopher Harborne, who lives in Thailand, donated £3m. The donations were made in the weeks before the government announced a £100,000 cap on donations after 25 March from British citizens living overseas.

The planned limit has sparked a row between the two parties, with Reform accusing Labour of "choking off legal funding for its main rival". Reform leads other parties in donations ahead of May electionsFarage faces standards probe into £5m gift from crypto billionaireThe donations were contained in the latest publication of large donations by the Electoral Commission, covering the first three months of this year. The filings show Reform accepted £2m from Delo on 14 January, and £2m on 2 March, as well as £3m from Harborne on 23 January.

The Details

None of the donations was made in cryptocurrency. The donations accounted for the lion's share of the £9. 3m in private donations declared by Reform during the period, and around a third of the £20.

7m total declared by all parties. The party also declared a further £1. 1m in donations from biotech entrepreneur David Grainger.

Sheffield-born Delo, who co-founded BitMEX, a cryptocurrency trading platform, is a first-time donor to the party but had revealed the donations earlier this year. Harborne, a British cryptocurrency investor, gave £12m in total to Reform in 2025, including a huge £9m donation in August, the largest ever single sum given by a living person to a British political party. Farage is under investigation by the parliamentary standards commissioner over whether he should have declared a £5m cash gift he received from Harborne ahead of the 2024 election upon his election as an MP.

What Experts Say

Farage argues he was under no obligation to register the "purely private" gift, as it was unrelated to his parliamentary or political activities. Election fundraisingThe large donations from individuals meant Reform's fundraising efforts far outstripped those of both Labour and the Conservatives, who each declared around £4m in donations from private sources over the period. It comes after Nigel Farage's party received more than £5.

4m in large donations in the final three months of last year, more than any other, as parties sought to fill their coffers ahead of a crucial set of elections in May. In the latest three-month period, Labour's biggest donations were £550,000 each from longstanding donor Lord David Sainsbury and Gary Lubner, the former boss of Autoglass, who gave millions to Labour ahead of the last general election. The party also declared a total of £1.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.