Reform Handed £36 Million By One Crypto Billionaire - Reform Watch

One billionaire has just handed Reform UK £36 million, more than Labour spent during the entire 2024 general election campaign. Ben Delo, the British co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX, said the record-breaking donation would give Reform a “level playing field” before the next election. He had reportedly planned to contribute £1 million every month until 2029, before paying the money upfront to prevent future legislation blocking it. Delo has already donated £8 million to Reform this year. He pleaded guilty in the United States in 2022 after BitMEX failed to maintain adequate anti-money-laundering controls, receiving probation and a $10 million fine. Donald Trump pardoned him in 2025. The billionaire has recently moved back to Britain from Hong Kong as Parliament considers limiting donations from people living abroad, or those who returned to Britain within the previous 12 months, to £100,000 a year. Reform insists the donation complies with the law. Legality alone cannot settle the democratic argument. Millions of pounds raised through memberships and numerous smaller donations leave a party accountable to a broad constituency. A £36 million cheque from one man creates dependence on that man, whether or not anybody is reckless enough to put an explicit bargain in writing. That danger is particularly acute when the donor made his fortune in an industry Reform wants to favour. Farage has proposed cutting capital gains tax on cryptocurrency to 10 per cent and creating a Bitcoin reserve. He also privately lobbied Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey over cryptocurrency policy, although Bailey later said no policy changed as a result. Delo calls his money a means of securing a fair fight. In reality, a political system where one billionaire can purchase a national campaign machine offers nothing resembling equality. It gives immense political power to whoever possesses the deepest pockets. British democracy cannot remain for sale while billionaires race to buy the parties seeking to govern it.