Reform UK has reported £72 million ($97.4 million) in donations over two days after cryptocurrency entrepreneur Ben Delo and Tether shareholder Christopher Harborne each disclosed £36 million payments, placing the party at the centre of an escalating dispute over political money and proposed restrictions on cryptocurrency donations.
Delo disclosed his contribution on Friday and Harborne reported an identical sum on Saturday, according to the donation information described in the supplied material. Each £36 million payment was presented as the largest single political donation in British history, surpassing the £10 million bequest made to the Conservative Party by Lord John Sainsbury in 2022.
The scale of the two gifts gives Reform an unusually large financial reserve years ahead of the next UK general election, which must be held by 2029. It also arrives while Parliament considers legislation that would suspend cryptocurrency donations and impose much tighter limits on some donations from overseas-based British citizens.
Neither Delo nor Harborne disclosed whether the £36 million payments were made in cryptocurrency, fiat currency, or another form. That distinction could become relevant if the Representation of the People Bill becomes law, since its proposed crypto-donation provisions would apply retrospectively to donations made on or after March 25.
Funding bill reaches the House of Lords
The Representation of the People Bill cleared the House of Commons on Sept. 2 and moved to the House of Lords on Sept. 3, according to Parliament’s bill tracker. The rules would require approval by the Lords and royal assent before taking effect.
As drafted, the measure would suspend political donations made in cryptocurrency. It would also cap annual donations at £100,000 ($135,000) for British citizens registered to vote from abroad, as well as certain citizens who recently returned to the UK.
Any cryptocurrency donations covered by the proposed rules would need to be returned within 30 days after the provisions take effect. The retrospective mechanism creates a potential complication for parties that have already accepted digital-asset contributions, although the supplied information does not establish that either of the latest Reform donations was paid in crypto.
Reform began accepting cryptocurrency donations in May 2025. Harborne’s earlier contributions to Reform were made in fiat currency, according to the supplied material, including a £9 million donation described at the time as the largest gift to a UK party by a living person.
The bill has been introduced amid heightened scrutiny of political funding routes, particularly where money can move rapidly across borders or through structures that make its origin harder for voters to assess. A temporary suspension on crypto donations would remove one payment method from party fundraising while Parliament considers a more durable framework.
Delo’s BitMEX background
Delo, 42, co-founded the cryptocurrency derivatives platform BitMEX in 2014 with Arthur Hayes and Samuel Reed. In 2022, he pleaded guilty to violating the US Bank Secrecy Act over failures to maintain an adequate anti-money-laundering program at the company.
Delo agreed to pay a $10 million criminal fine and received 30 months of probation. US President Donald Trump pardoned Delo, Hayes and Reed in March 2025, according to the supplied account.
Delo returned to the UK from Hong Kong this year and had already donated £8 million to Reform, including an initial £4 million contribution disclosed in April. His latest payment brings his reported giving to the party substantially above that earlier total.
BitMEX said in July that it would wind down its platform permanently in September 2026 after a strategic review by its board. The planned closure places added attention on Delo’s political activity as one of the exchange’s best-known founders shifts his public financial involvement toward UK politics.
Harborne, a British businessman based in Thailand, holds an estimated 12% stake in Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, according to the supplied material. His donations have made him a recurring figure in reporting on Reform’s funding since 2025.
Reform faces separate funding scrutiny
The record donations come as Reform confronts a separate criminal investigation into its funding. The Metropolitan Police opened an inquiry last week after a Channel 4 News broadcast showed senior party figures discussing possible routes for money from an American donor, according to the supplied material.
Two Reform staff members stepped down following the broadcast. The investigation concerns issues distinct from Delo and Harborne’s disclosed donations, but it adds pressure on the party to show that its fundraising arrangements comply with UK political-finance rules.
Nigel Farage, Reform’s leader, had previously received an undeclared £5 million personal gift from Harborne in 2024, according to the supplied account. That matter led to a parliamentary standards investigation. Farage later resigned his Clacton seat in July following that inquiry and another probe concerning support from George Cottrell, a convicted fraudster linked in the supplied material to offshore crypto bookmaker Tether.bet.
The latest disclosures leave Reform with an extraordinary concentration of funding from two wealthy figures linked to the cryptocurrency sector. Parliament’s pending bill may determine whether digital-asset donations remain available as a channel for UK political fundraising, while the status of the £72 million in newly reported payments will depend in part on the payment methods used and the legislation’s final wording.
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