Crypto investor Ben Delo donates £36 million to Nigel Farage's Reform UK
The BitMEX co-founder front-loaded the multi-year political contribution to pre-empt planned legislation capping foreign political donations in the United Kingdom.
Upfront funding for Reform UK
Cryptocurrency entrepreneur Ben Delo announced a £36 million ($48.7 million) donation to Nigel Farage's Reform UK party on 11 September 2026. The gift is structured to provide the equivalent of £1 million per month until August 2029, the final date by which Prime Minister Andy Burnham must call the next general election. Delo chose to transfer the entire amount as a single upfront lump sum to pre-empt proposed Labour legislation that seeks to impose a £100,000 cap on political donations from abroad. The BitMEX co-founder recently moved his primary residence back to the United Kingdom to comply with existing electoral rules, and confirmed in a published article that he is now retired from the cryptocurrency industry.
Unlike the people who express mock concern for the health of 'our democracy' while doing everything they can to keep it as a cartel, I want a fair fight and a level playing field.
Scale of party funding
The single £36 million contribution nearly matches the entire £38 million that Reform UK had accumulated since its founding in 2021. Over that same five-year period, the Conservative Party collected £150 million and the Labour Party raised £128 million in reportable donations. Delo had previously transferred £8 million to Reform across four separate donations during 2026, including a £4 million payment in the preceding quarter. Party leader Nigel Farage welcomed the contribution, arguing that the financial support would allow the party to mount a direct challenge to the traditional two-party duopoly.
Ben knows that we are the only party that can turn the country around and reverse Britain's decline.
- Conservatives
- 150 £ million
- Labour
- 128 £ million
- Reform UK
- 38 £ million
Police scrutiny and donor backgrounds
The payment arrives while Reform UK's fundraising practices remain under active investigation by law enforcement. The Metropolitan Police initiated a probe into allegations of unlawful foreign financing after an undercover Channel 4 investigation captured senior Reform officials discussing methods to disguise donations originating outside the country. In a related development, a separate £5 million undeclared donation paid directly to Farage by cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne, who contributed £15 million to Reform over the past year, is the subject of a parliamentary inquiry. Delo himself pleaded guilty in the United States in 2022 to anti-money laundering failures under the Bank Secrecy Act at BitMEX, before receiving a presidential pardon from Donald Trump.
- Reform UK launches as a political party.
- Ben Delo is convicted of US banking law violations at BitMEX before receiving a pardon from Donald Trump.
- Reform UK reaches first place in UK national opinion polls.
- Ben Delo announces a £36 million upfront donation to Reform UK.
- Statutory deadline for Prime Minister Andy Burnham to hold the next general election.
Electoral positioning under Burnham
Reform UK was founded less than a decade ago by Farage, a former metals trader and long-time politician, and won a handful of seats at the previous national vote. The party rose to the top of British opinion polls in April 2025, but subsequently slipped behind Labour after Andy Burnham replaced Keir Starmer as Labour leader and Prime Minister. Delo argued in The Telegraph that established parties hold deep financial advantages that insurgent movements cannot overcome without private backing. He wrote that his financial package is intended to allow Reform to spend less time on continuous donor outreach and direct its resources toward policy formulation and preparing for government before the 2029 election.
