Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, met with Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey to deliver a blunt message: kill the digital pound. The meeting, which took place in September 2025, confirmed that the central bank’s CBDC project is still moving forward, despite growing political resistance from one of Britain’s most polarizing political figures.

Farage has been waging a public campaign against the Bank of England’s retail digital pound for months. His objections center on what he describes as the potential for state surveillance through digital ID systems, a framing that positions the CBDC less as a payment innovation and more as a tool of government control.

From skeptic to crusader

At the Zebu Live event in London in October 2025, Farage stated he was prepared to go to prison to prevent the digital pound from being implemented.

He expressed “total horror” at the concept of a state-controlled digital currency.

The Bank of England has not confirmed any plans to tie the digital currency to digital ID requirements, which is the specific mechanism Farage points to when raising surveillance concerns.

The crypto connection

Farage’s opposition to the digital pound doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It sits alongside a broader pro-crypto pivot by Reform UK that has raised eyebrows across the political spectrum.

Reform UK began accepting Bitcoin donations in May 2025, making it one of the first major UK political parties to do so. Farage has also advocated for the Bank of England to consider a strategic Bitcoin reserve.

Christopher Harborne, a significant donor to Reform UK, is a key investor in Tether and other crypto firms. That connection has drawn scrutiny, particularly from Labour politicians who have called for regulatory review of donations from crypto industry investors.

A major political donor with deep financial ties to companies that directly compete with a state digital currency is bankrolling the party whose leader is lobbying the central bank governor to cancel that same digital currency. Farage has not publicly addressed whether Harborne’s financial interests influenced his position.

What this means for crypto investors

If Farage’s lobbying succeeds and the digital pound project stalls or gets cancelled, it removes a potential competitor to private stablecoins and decentralized payment networks. Tether, Circle, and other stablecoin issuers would face one fewer state-backed rival in a major financial market.

If the controversy around Harborne’s donations leads to tighter regulation of crypto-industry political financing, it could create a chilling effect on the lobbying power that crypto firms have been building across Western democracies.