Reform UK, the UK's political party, received a combined $9.4 million in donations from two crypto billionaires in the first quarter of 2026, surpassing the combined fundraising amounts of the Labour and Conservative parties. Newly disclosed UK political donation records show that the funds primarily came from Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo.

These two individuals' donations combined accounted for approximately 28% of the total donations declared by all British political parties that quarter. Reform UK reported $12.5 million in donations that quarter, exceeding the Conservative Party's $8.1 million and the Labour Party's $5.5 million.

Donations come from concentrated sources

Harborne donated $4 million on January 23. Delo donated a total of $5.4 million in two separate donations in January and March. Harborne holds a 12% stake in Tether, the issuer of stablecoins, while Delo is the co-founder of BitMEX.

Overseas donations are restricted

Following a review by Rycroft, the UK government tightened rules on political donations, suspending cryptocurrency donations and restricting overseas political contributions. Harborne publicly stated that he believes he is implicated in these restrictions and said he would not rule out returning to the UK.

Farage under investigation for accepting gifts.

The $6.7 million in gifts received by Farage personally is also under scrutiny. There are questions about whether this money should have been declared after he entered Parliament. Both Farage and Reform UK deny any wrongdoing, stating that the funds were personal gifts received before he entered Parliament.