Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is under renewed pressure after Labour accused him of “evading reasonable scrutiny” over a secret $6.7 million (£5 million) gift from billionaire Tether investor Christopher Harborne — a payment that arrived weeks before Farage reversed his decision not to stand in the 2024 general election.
Labour Party chair Anneliese Dorries’s successor, Turley, has sent a formal letter demanding answers, saying “the British people, and the relevant authorities and regulators deserve one clear and truthful account of what happened” and that Farage’s refusal to engage with media questions “is not acceptable.” The parliamentary standards commissioner opened a formal inquiry last month after the Conservatives referred the case, seeking to establish whether any of the money was used for political activity.
The timeline and the donors
- Harborne, who owns about 12% of stablecoin issuer Tether and is listed as the UK’s sixth-richest person with a £19.6 billion ($24.4 billion) net worth, gifted Farage £5 million in 2024. Farage then won the Clacton seat in July and went on to build Reform UK into Britain’s best-funded party.
- Harborne’s totals to Reform now stand at roughly $16 million (£12 million), including a $12 million (£9 million) donation last year — described as the largest single political donation from a living individual in UK history and accounting for roughly two-thirds of Reform’s 2025 funding.
- In Q1 2026, BitMEX co-founder Ben Delo — another major crypto figure — added $5.3 million (£4 million) across two payments, further bolstering Reform’s coffers. Combined with Harborne’s contributions, the party has pulled in substantial crypto-era backing.
What Farage has said
Farage has given two different public explanations for the £5 million. Initially he told The Telegraph the money was meant to pay for his personal security “for life,” citing past threats including a firebombing of his home. He later described it as a “reward” from Harborne for his Brexit campaigning, and has consistently insisted he was under “no obligation” to declare the gift.
Political fallout
Pressure over the payment intensified at Prime Minister’s Questions, when Keir Starmer asked why the “leader of Reform [is] dodging questions about his donation” and why it had been kept secret. Starmer, while stopping short of promising a cap on large donations, said the government “will do whatever is necessary to protect our democracy from foreign influence and dirty money,” pointing to the current moratorium on crypto donations and a new cap on contributions from overseas donors.
Harborne has publicly suggested the cap was introduced because of him and has not ruled out returning to Britain to try to circumvent the rules.
Why crypto matters here
The story has clear crypto ties: a major investor in Tether and a BitMEX co-founder are behind multi-million-pound donations that transformed the fundraising landscape for a UK political party. That has prompted fresh debate about transparency, foreign influence and whether stricter rules are needed for crypto-linked political funding.
Decrypt has contacted Nigel Farage’s office and Christopher Harborne for comment.
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