Reform's Crypto Patrons Face a Year-Long Donation Timeout 🇬🇧

The UK government has announced an immediate moratorium on cryptocurrency donations to political parties and extended its £100,000 cap on overseas donations to cover a donor's first year of UK residency, measures that will constrain the crypto billionaires funding Nigel Farage's Reform UK. Prime Minister Keir Starmer triggered the crypto ban following the government-commissioned Rycroft review into countering foreign financial influence in British politics, according to the Press Association. The moratorium covers donations of any size and applies retrospectively from Monday; parties will have 30 days to return any cryptocurrency received.

The reforms build on a March package that capped overseas donations and banned crypto contributions until the UK can regulate them. At the time of that ban, Reform UK was the only major British political party to accept donations made in cryptocurrency. The new package also tightens the rules on company donations, judging them on post-tax profits over five years rather than revenue, and requires candidates to prove that any pre-campaign funding came from "legitimate sources." The bill returns to the Commons for its final stages next week.

The residency change is expected to weigh most heavily on Reform UK's crypto-linked donors. Thailand-based Christopher Harborne, who holds a 12% stake in stablecoin issuer Tether, has donated a total of £12 million to the party and has since registered to vote in the UK. Ben Delo, the Hong Kong-based co-founder of the BitMEX exchange, has donated some £4 million to Reform. Delo, who was pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump in 2025 after pleading guilty to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, has said he intends to move back to Britain, a return that would cap his donations at £100,000 for a year. Neither Harborne nor Delo's contributions were made in cryptocurrency, and Reform has said no rules were broken.

The clampdown follows a Sunday Times investigation alleging that Farage failed to declare years of "in-kind" support — including staff, security and housing — provided by George Cottrell, known as "Posh George," a longtime confidant, convicted fraudster and crypto-gambler. Cottrell pleaded guilty to wire fraud in the U.S. after a 2016 sting and is now seeking a pardon from President Trump. According to the Sunday Times, he became a "key player" in Tether.bet, an offshore casino that accepted bets in cash or cryptocurrency and operated without a UK gambling licence. A Polymarket account linked to Cottrell by blockchain investigator ZachXBT has staked millions on geopolitical bets.