In short
- The UK government has unveiled new rules to restrict foreign funding in elections, including a cap on donations from people in their first year of living in the UK and stricter tests for corporate donors.
- The measures build on a March ban on crypto donations and could squeeze Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which leaned heavily on crypto billionaires Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo.
- Harborne registered to vote in the UK, while Delo said he intended to do so.
The UK government has announced a new crackdown on foreign investment in politics, and the new rules could squeeze the crypto billions bankrolled by Nigel Farage of Reform UK.
Revealed on Monday, the dimensions add £100,000 to foreign contributions, compulsory since Marchso it also covers the donor’s first year of UK residency—meaning someone can’t just move to Britain and write a bigger cheque.
Corporate donations will be taxed on profits after five years instead of income, banning companies with high profits but poor operations, and candidates must prove that any pre-campaign money came from “authoritative sources.”
The changes build on the March package, which banned foreign donations and banned crypto donations until the UK could regulate them. At the time of the ban, Reform UK was the only major political party in Britain receiving donations generated in cryptocurrency. The bill will return to the Commons for its final stages next week.
Reform supporters of crypto
Housing reform could take a big bite out of the crypto billions that support Reform UK. Christopher Harborne from Thailand, who has a 12% stake. stablecoin the Tether provider, has given the amount £12 million party, and from then on registered to vote in the UK.
Ben Delo, co-founder of BitMEX in Hong Kong, has contributed £4 million to Reform. Delo, who was to be forgiven and US President Donald Trump in 2025 after that to complain a violation of the Bank Secrecy Act he said he wants to go back to Britain – back to where it should be Independent he realized, leaving him with the opportunity to give away £100,000 a year.
None of Harborne’s or Delo’s donations were made in the form of cryptocurrency, and Reform says no laws were broken.
Farage and “Posh George”
The clampdown falls after a Sunday Times an investigation claiming that Farage failed to announce years of “in-kind” support, from labor and security to housing, provided by George Cottrell, known as “Posh George,” a long-time private, criminal and crypto gambler.
Cottrell, who pleaded guilty to defrauding the US after a 2016 sting and is now seeking a pardon from President Trump, has deep ties to crypto. According to Sunday Timesbecame a “significant player” at Tether.bet, an offshore casino that took cash or crypto betting and operated without a UK gambling license. Polymarket account connected at Cottrell and blockchain researcher ZachXBT are he invested millions on geopolitical bets.
Liberal Democrat MP Josh Babarinde is documents to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner calling for an investigation into Farage’s “failure to declare financial support” from Cottrell.
Farage, is already being investigated for what has not been reported £5 million ($6.7 million) gift from Harborne, they refuse Cottrell’s earnings are required to be declared, and Cottrell denies that he expects to pay anything back. Decrypt has reached out to Nigel Farage for comment.
Daily Debrief A letter
Start each day with top stories right here, including originals, podcasts, videos and more.
