Reform UK has received a record £9 million donation from cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne — the largest single donation ever made by a living person to a British political party.
Harborne, who is based in Thailand and also known as Chakrit Sakunkrit, is not new to UK political funding. He previously donated substantial sums to the Conservative Party under Boris Johnson, as well as to Reform’s predecessor, the Brexit Party, in 2019 and 2020.
It is also worth noting that the majority of Reform UK’s donations have come from abroad — a detail the party rarely leads with.
The Tether Connection and Criminal Finance
Among Harborne’s investments is a stake in Tether, the cryptocurrency stablecoin. Tether is currently the subject of a multi-million-pound investigation by the National Crime Agency over its alleged use in facilitating:
- sanctions evasion
- high-level organised crime
- money laundering, including services linked to the Russian state
This is not some fringe concern dreamt up by crypto sceptics. It goes directly to how cryptoassets are used to blur — or erase — the boundary between legitimate finance and criminal money flows.
Nigel Farage and Reform UK’s Crypto Evangelism
In October, Nigel Farage spoke at a crypto event in London, announcing that Reform UK would become a champion of cryptocurrency. This included the promise of a national crypto reserve — an idea borrowed wholesale from the wilder fringes of US crypto politics.
Farage has also appeared at Bitcoin conferences in the United States, reinforcing Reform’s enthusiasm for an industry that prides itself on being beyond regulation, beyond borders and, increasingly, beyond scrutiny.
Reform’s Proposed Cryptoassets and Digital Finance Bill
Reform UK says that, if elected, it would introduce a Cryptoassets and Digital Finance Bill. The proposals include:
- sweeping deregulation of crypto markets
- cutting capital gains tax on crypto assets from 24% to 10%
- forcing HMRC to accept tax payments in cryptocurrency
Most strikingly, Reform plans to scrap new anti-money-laundering rules due to come into force in January 2026.
Those rules would require crypto exchanges to:
- collect verified user details
- link transactions to HMRC tax records
- restrict the use of crypto for money laundering, criminal finance and undeclared foreign political funding
Reform’s promise is simple: tear them up.
A Radical Break with Conservative Tradition
This is an odd position for a party so keen to wrap itself in Conservative symbolism — and doubly odd for Nigel Farage personally.
Traditional British conservatism was obsessively concerned with sound money and currency stability. Margaret Thatcher was so committed to monetary discipline that she earned the nickname “the Sado-Monetarist”.
Championing unregulated crypto — and dismantling the barriers between politics and illicit finance — is not conservative in any recognisable sense.
Why Crypto Appeals to Reform UK
The attraction is obvious enough.
Cryptocurrency collapses the boundaries between legitimate financial flows and dark money. It offers a seamless mechanism for oligarchs, dictators and criminals to move funds into the global financial system — and, potentially, into domestic politics.
For a party heavily reliant on large donors and foreign money, that isn’t a bug. It’s the point.
https://www.reformparty.uk/cryptobill
Vote Reform!
Is probably the first response you’ll see on any FB group if you post this.
Or maybe – the other parties have had their chance, lets give someone else a chance!
I sometimes think I’m being trolled. Unfortunately I’m not. The same people who would be hardest hit by a reform government are the ones most likely to vote it in. Same with Brexit, its the very same people that voted Brexit that will vote for Reform.
I’m sick of Liebour, so I’m going to vote for a party that will take my benefits away, my human rights (because me not having any is better than having immigrants in the UK), my job security, my pension, the NHS, make life more expensive, and whole bunch of other stuff that I can’t be bothered to think about right now.
That’ll teach the elite.
Now, how do I get a Crypto Wallet, whatever that is. Anyone know if Asda accept Stablecoin?
Most Reform voters don’t work, and so if the economy tanks they don’t think they will be protected. What they care about is their position in society, and they will vote for a party which keeps immigrants, LGBT and minorities in their place.
I think you meant “and so if the economy tanks they think they will be protected” there?
The main blunder from David Cameron which led to Brexit (not having the referendum at all: he didn’t really have a choice on that as the ERG were threatening to split the party) was that he talked of an all-encompassing “Age of Austerity” but shielded pensioners from it (for example with the triple lock).
These pensioners thus believed that any economic damage from Brexit wouldn’t affect them personally (as the Tories would always have their back) and they were thus free to vote for their (bigoted) values.
Spot on George. They were protected from the effects of austerity and Brexit and were allowed a free hit at the rest of us