Reform secures record-breaking £36m donation from crypto entrepreneur

Nigel Farage’s party has secured a staggering £36m from British cryptocurrency entrepreneur Ben Delo in a major boost for its election campaign.

Mr Delo, who was previously Reform UK’s second-largest donor, has said he wants to help the party prepare for government and ensure it is given a “fair fight”.

The huge sum is the largest donation given to a political party by a significant margin. It comes after a police investigation was launched into allegations that Reform breached party donation rules on illegal foreign funding.

Reacting to the gift, Mr Farage said: “I am honoured and humbled that Ben Delo has shown such confidence in Reform.

“Ben knows that we are the only party that can turn the country around and reverse Britain’s decline.”

The boost nearly matches the total £38m that the party has received since it launched in 2021. In that time, the Tories have been given £150m and Labour £128m.

Mr Delo, the founder of cryptocurrency trading platform BitMex, has already made four donations to Reform this year, totalling £8m.

The businessman was convicted in the US in 2022 for failings in an anti-money laundering programme at BitMex, before being pardoned by president Donald Trump.

He was, until now, the second-largest donor, behind crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, who has given £15m to the party in the last year. His separate undeclared donation of £5m, directly to Mr Farage, is the subject of a parliamentary probe.