Farage: Tether Backer's £5M Gift Is None of Your Business, Mate 🏇

Nigel Farage said a £5 million ($6.7 million) gift from Tether stakeholder Christopher Harborne is "a purely private matter" and that he is free to spend it however he chooses, including on luxury cars or gambling. Appearing on LBC Radio on Tuesday, the Reform UK leader stated, "It's an unconditional gift. I can spend it on Ferraris if I want," and added, "I can do what I want with it. I can put it on the horses." Harborne, a British, Thailand-based billionaire, holds a roughly 12% stake in $USDT issuer Tether and is ranked sixth on the Sunday Times Rich List.

The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner has opened an investigation into whether Farage was required to declare the gift after his 2024 election as MP for Clacton. New MPs must register gifts above £300 from the previous year, unless they could not reasonably be tied to political activity. Farage argued he "wasn't in politics" when the money changed hands, though BBC Radio 4's Nick Robinson noted that Farage had spent 40 minutes on his own podcast discussing a possible run for Parliament. Farage said that at the time he was "far from making my mind up."

Farage's account of the gift's purpose has shifted. After initially suggesting it related to personal security, he described it to LBC Radio as "a reward for campaigning for Brexit for 27 years." He denied giving conflicting explanations, saying he received the money "unconditionally." "I believe it was a reward for giving up a quarter of a century of my life, giving up a huge income in the City of London, putting up with lots of abuse," Farage said. "I believe that was the motive, whether it was or not."

Farage also rejected suggestions that the gift purchased crypto advocacy, saying he already supported regulatory changes regardless of donations. Even if London became a major crypto-trading hub, he told the BBC, "it would still be a minute part of the global market," and would not move asset prices "in any way at all." He has previously called for a national Bitcoin ($BTC) reserve and lower capital-gains taxes on digital assets.

The gift is separate from the multi-million pound donations Harborne has made to Reform UK itself. Harborne and BitMEX co-founder Ben Delo together account for much of the party's recent funding, including reported crypto-linked contributions totaling $9.4 million (£7 million). Labour has accused Farage of dodging scrutiny over the arrangement, which surfaced after the UK imposed a moratorium on political donations made in cryptocurrency, though Farage's gift and Harborne's party donations were not made in digital assets.