Farage knew Putin was using crypto to evade war sanctions – but invested in it anyway

Labour have said that the “questions keep piling up” for Nigel Farage after footage emerged of him admitting he knew Russians used cryptocurrency to cheat Ukraine war sanctions, but invested in the sector anyway.

In an unearthed 2022 interview given just days after Vladimir Putin declared war on Kyiv, Mr Farage credited Russian sanction busting investment for a 15 per cent spike in crypto values.

Despite knowing crypto was aiding the Russian war effort, Mr Farage went on to invest hundreds of thousands of pounds in the sector.

A Labour Party spokesperson said “Pandora’s box has been opened when it comes to Farage’s relationship with crypto”, adding that his investment in the sector after he knew Russia was using it to break sanctions “raises serious questions about his moral judgement”.

The row comes as Reform UK have taken two separate donations of £36m from crypto billionaires Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo with housing secretary Angela Rayner suggesting a new law could “retrospectively” block Reform accepting the money.

Speaking to financial firm Southbank Investment Research in 2022, Mr Farage explained how crypto exchanges were not banning Russian assets, and that Russians transferring cash into crypto were behind a rally in that market.