# Two Crypto Billionaires Give Reform UK £72 Million in Two Days

Christopher Harborne matched a £36 million donation from BitMEX co-founder Ben Delo, a combined sum that exceeds what all registered British parties raised in 2025.

- Published: 2026-09-13T05:20:55.617Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/2026-09-13/two-crypto-billionaires-give-reform-uk-72-million-in-two-day
- Publisher: Polylog (Global desk)
- Section: crypto
- Sources: [The Japan Times](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/09/13/world/politics/farage-reform-72-million-24-hours/), [Cointelegraph via TradingView](https://www.tradingview.com/news/cointelegraph:cb70e30d6094b:0-farage-s-reform-uk-gets-97m-from-two-crypto-billionaires/)

Nigel Farage's Reform UK received £72 million, about $97 million, from two cryptocurrency billionaires in the space of two days. [The Japan Times reported](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/09/13/world/politics/farage-reform-72-million-24-hours/) that Christopher Harborne, a British investor with a large stake in the stablecoin issuer Tether, matched a £36 million donation from Ben Delo, co-founder of the derivatives exchange BitMEX. [Cointelegraph reported](https://www.tradingview.com/news/cointelegraph:cb70e30d6094b:0-farage-s-reform-uk-gets-97m-from-two-crypto-billionaires/) that the two contributions are jointly the largest ever made to a British political party and that the combined sum exceeds what every registered British party raised in all of 2025.

Delo said he paid the full amount up front, describing it as £1 million a month until the general election due in 2029, and said he made the payment in one transaction to prevent it being blocked. Harborne said he expected nothing in return, naming no peerage and no policy change. Parliament is considering legislation that would ban cryptocurrency donations and cap annual contributions at £100,000.

The money arrives at an awkward moment for the asset class that produced it. Bitcoin traded near $77,278 on Friday, roughly a third below its level a year earlier, while gold held near $4,390 an ounce. Wealth created in the 2021 and 2024 cycles is now being spent on political influence in a country whose regulators have been among the more restrictive toward digital assets.

## What this means

Digital asset fortunes are converting into political positions in jurisdictions that set the rules those assets must follow, which changes the regulatory outlook for exchanges, stablecoin issuers and custody providers operating in Britain. The immediate effect runs the other way for Reform UK, since the donations gave Parliament a concrete reason to accelerate the funding legislation already under discussion. Whether this becomes a repeatable channel depends on whether that bill passes before the next election or stalls.

## What to watch

- Whether Parliament's proposed ban on cryptocurrency donations and the £100,000 cap advance, which would close this channel for everyone.
- Reform UK's stated policy on digital asset regulation and a British central bank digital currency, the place where donor interest would become visible.
- Whether comparable donations appear in other European elections, which would show a pattern rather than a single case.