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Story: Crypto Billionaires Propel Reform UK with £85 Million Amid Investigations

By Jean-Luc Maracon

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Farage Under Investigation as Funds Pour In. The timing is harsh. Just as these millions are coming in, Reform UK is facing several…

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Debate on Donation Caps Resurfaces. These sums reignite a question the UK has long avoided: should political donations be capped?

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Reform UK has just secured £85 million in forty-eight hours. The two men behind this are Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne, two crypto billionaires who each put £36 million on…

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Delo is the co-founder of BitMEX, based in Hong Kong. He announced his donation in a British newspaper, without much concealment.

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Eighty-five million in two days. It's unprecedented for Reform UK.

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The timing is harsh. Just as these millions are coming in, Reform UK is facing several investigations that seriously complicate the picture.

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But there's more. The London police have expanded a criminal investigation into foreign donations received before the 2024 general elections.

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The recent party congress was supposed to be a relaunch. A moment to present an ambitious program, to show that Reform UK is ready to govern one day. Not quite.

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These sums reignite a question the UK has long avoided: should political donations be capped? The Labour government has so far resisted touching this.

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Related reading: Goldman Sachs Predicts Fed Rate Hike, Concerns for Crypto Markets

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What is clear: money from abroad, or from people settled abroad, is increasingly worrisome. The idea that fortunes built outside the UK can weigh so heavily in a British election…

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See also: UK Firms Divided as T+1 Settlement Deadline Approaches, Regulators on Alert

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Meanwhile, Labour seems to be benefiting from the turmoil. Under Andy Burnham, the party is regaining ground in the polls.

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Political financing in the UK is not regulated like in other democracies. No national cap on private donations.

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Reform UK wants a machine. Local offices, paid activists, large-scale digital campaigns. Established parties have taken decades to build that. Delo and Harborne want to buy time.

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