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Reform UK receives 75% of Q1 2026 donations from crypto industry figures
BitMEX co-founder Ben Delo and Tether-linked investor Christopher Harborne collectively gave £7 million to Nigel Farage's party, dwarfing contributions from traditional donors.
Two figures with deep ties to the cryptocurrency industry accounted for three-quarters of Reform UK’s declared private donations in the first quarter of 2026, a funding dynamic that has no real parallel in modern British politics.
Ben Delo, co-founder of the derivatives exchange BitMEX, contributed £4 million across two payments. Christopher Harborne, a Thailand-based investor linked to both Tether and Bitfinex, added another £3 million. Together, their £7 million represented 75% of the £9.3 million Reform UK reported receiving from private donors during the period.
The numbers in context
Reform UK’s haul didn’t just stand out internally. The £7 million from Delo and Harborne alone represented roughly 28% of all reported political donations to UK parties that quarter.
Delo’s money arrived in two equal tranches: £2 million in January and £2 million in March. Harborne’s £3 million landed on January 23. Electoral Commission records confirm every pound was transferred in fiat currency, not digital assets.
For Harborne, this wasn’t a new relationship. His cumulative contributions to Reform UK between late 2025 and early 2026 sit somewhere between £12 million and £15 million, making him comfortably the party’s most significant financial backer in recent memory.
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Who are the donors
Ben Delo made his fortune as a co-founder of BitMEX, the crypto derivatives platform that at its peak processed billions of dollars in daily trading volume. Delo previously faced regulatory action related to BitMEX’s compliance failures, specifically around anti-money laundering controls. He subsequently received a presidential pardon from Donald Trump.
Delo publicly signaled his alignment with Reform UK in an April 2026 op-ed, articulating his support for the party’s direction. The piece came after his donations were already on the books.
Harborne operates from a different corner of the crypto universe. His business interests have been linked to Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalization, and to its sister exchange Bitfinex.
Why crypto money is flowing to Reform UK
Reform UK has positioned itself as the most crypto-friendly major political party in the United Kingdom. Under Nigel Farage’s leadership, the party has advocated for policy positions that would directly benefit digital asset holders, including proposals to reduce capital gains tax on crypto investments.
The regulatory environment for crypto in Britain remains in flux. The Financial Conduct Authority has been tightening oversight, and the current government has signaled interest in a comprehensive regulatory framework.