Crypto billionaires help Reform cement fundraising lead

Crypto billionaires help Reform cement fundraising lead6 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GooglePaul SeddonPolitical reporterGetty ImagesReform UK received £7m from two overseas British crypto billionaires earlier this year, figures show, helping it cement its fundraising lead in recent months.Hong Kong-based businessman Ben Delo gave £4m to Nigel Farage's party, according to latest filings, whilst Christopher Harborne, who lives in Thailand, donated £3m.The donations were made in the weeks before the government announced a £100,000 cap on donations after 25 March from British citizens living overseas.The planned limit has sparked a row between the two parties, with Reform accusing Labour of "choking off legal funding for its main rival".Reform leads other parties in donations ahead of May electionsFarage faces standards probe into £5m gift from crypto billionaireThe donations were contained in the latest publication of large donations by the Electoral Commission, covering the first three months of this year.The filings show Reform accepted £2m from Delo on 14 January, and £2m on 2 March, as well as £3m from Harborne on 23 January. None of the donations was made in cryptocurrency.The donations accounted for the lion's share of the £9.3m in private donations declared by Reform during the period, and around a third of the £20.7m total declared by all parties.The party also declared a further £1.1m in donations from biotech entrepreneur David Grainger.Sheffield-born Delo, who co-founded BitMEX, a cryptocurrency trading platform, is a first-time donor to the party but had revealed the donations earlier this year.Harborne, a British cryptocurrency investor, gave £12m in total to Reform in 2025, including a huge £9m donation in August, the largest ever single sum given by a living person to a British political party.Farage is under investigation by the parliamentary standards commissioner over whether he should have declared a £5m cash gift he r...