Farage says he "followed the rules," but the receipts say otherwise 🎁

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has announced he will resign as MP for Clacton and contest the resulting by-election, after The Sunday Times reported that he received undisclosed gifts from George Cottrell, a crypto-linked figure convicted of wire fraud in the United States. Farage, who was first elected to parliament in July 2024 with 46.2% of the Clacton vote, made the announcement Tuesday in an X livestream, stating: "Let me be absolutely clear: I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way at all. I have not misused public money." He described the circumstances as the product of "foul means" by established politicians.

According to The Sunday Times, Cottrell, an adviser to Farage for more than 10 years who is involved in the offshore gambling platform Tether.bet — which accepts bets denominated in $BTC and USDT — provided Farage with drivers, security personnel made up primarily of former soldiers, a rented five-story house near Buckingham Palace, and three paid staff members assisting with social media and office operations. A Reform source told the newspaper that Farage almost always stayed at his own home and did not routinely use the property. Upon entering parliament, Farage registered only one benefit from Cottrell valued at less than £9,300 ($12,400), covering travel, security and accommodation for an event in Belgium. Under UK parliamentary rules, MPs must disclose benefits exceeding £300 received in the year before their election when those benefits relate to political activities.

Farage said in a statement on Sunday that he "followed the rules" over the gifts, which he received before his July 2024 election, and called The Times' report a "hit job." Cottrell was arrested in 2016 and charged with 21 offenses in connection with a money-laundering plot; he pleaded guilty to a single wire fraud charge under a plea deal and served eight months in a U.S. prison. Farage separately faces two probes by the parliamentary standards commissioner into a reported £5 million ($6.7 million) gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, a significant Tether shareholder and one of Reform UK's largest donors. Farage has argued that the Harborne gift does not require declaration because it was given to fund personal security before he became an MP. Harborne partly owns Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin.

The disclosures come against a broader backdrop of regulatory action in the UK, where the Treasury in March temporarily banned political donations made in cryptocurrencies. Farage has been a vocal advocate for the sector in parliament, having spoken at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas and appearing with his party's draft crypto legislation, and he is an investor in London-listed $BTC treasury company Stack. The parliamentary commissioner is also examining whether Farage lobbied the Bank of England to soften its position on a central bank digital currency, following a referral from Labour MP Phil Brickell, chair of a parliamentary anti-corruption group. A by-election in Clacton could take weeks or months to organize, according to The London Standard.