Revealed: Reform rakes in £20m in donations from crypto investors

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has received £20m in donations from cryptocurrency investors since the general election, The Independent can reveal.

An analysis of Electoral Commission data shows that a staggering 60 per cent of the right-wing eurosceptic group’s funding comes from wealthy individuals associated with the digital currency since the beginning of 2024.

The largest donations, totalling £15m, came from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, whose separate undeclared donation of £5m directly to Mr Farage is the subject of a parliamentary probe.

Other donors include Ben Peter Delo, the founder of cryptocurrency trading platform BitMex, who gave two £2m payments to the party this year and Maria Rost, the wife of US crypto investor John Rost, who has given nine payments worth £125,000.

Simon William Smith, a London-based bitcoin investor who founded a company which allows content creators to sell their content in exchange for Bitcoin, donated £116,000 ahead of the general election in 2024. Oscar Townsley, the founder of Bitcoin derivatives trading firm A1X, gave the party £30,000 last year.

By comparison, the Conservative Party received £82,250 in donations from Alan Eldad Howard, a hedge fund manager and crypto investor. The Independent did not identify any such donations for Labour, Lib Dems or the Green Party.