Britain's Reform UK party, led by politician Nigel Farage, received a total of 72 million pounds, or about 15 billion yen, in donations from two billionaires in the cryptocurrency industry over two days. Ben Delo, co-founder of the crypto exchange BitMEX, and Christopher Harborne, an investor in Tether, each donated 36 million pounds. Delo disclosed the donation on the 11th in an article for the British newspaper The Telegraph, saying it was the largest single political donation in British history, surpassing the 10 million pounds that Lord John Sainsbury bequeathed to the Conservative Party in 2022. He had initially planned to donate 1 million pounds a month until the next general election, but said he paid it in a lump sum in light of the possibility that the government might set a cap on political donations. The following day, the 12th, Harborne also revealed in an article for the same newspaper that he had donated 36 million pounds, the same amount as Delo. He is a British investor based in Thailand and is reported to hold about 12 percent of Tether's shares. Neither man has disclosed the payment method used for the donations, and it has not been confirmed whether they were made in cryptocurrency. Amid these huge donations, Britain's Parliament is moving forward with a review of the political funding system, and the Representation of the People Bill includes provisions for a temporary ban on political donations made in cryptocurrency and a limit of 100,000 pounds a year on donations from registered voters living overseas. The bill passed the House of Commons on September 2 and was sent to the House of Lords on the 3rd. The ban on cryptocurrency donations is set to apply retroactively to donations made on or after March 25, and affected donations must be returned within 30 days after the provisions take effect. However, for these provisions to take effect, they must go through deliberation in the House of Lords and receive royal assent.
BitMEX co-founder Ben Delo donated 36 million pounds to Reform UK; the article mentions a proposed UK ban on crypto political donations, but no direct impact on BitMEX.
Tether investor Christopher Harborne donated 36 million pounds; the article notes a proposed UK ban on crypto political donations, but no direct impact on Tether itself.
