Reform UK Secures Additional £4m From Trump-Pardoned Crypto Billionaire

Reform UK has received an additional £4m from the British cryptocurrency billionaire Ben Delo, with the party expressing confidence that the previously Hong Kong-based businessman will not be affected by the new overseas donor cap.

Delo, who was convicted in the United States in 2022 for failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering controls in his cryptocurrency business before receiving a pardon from Donald Trump, previously donated £4m to Reform in January.

His total of £8m in contributions highlights the growing role of major donors within Reform and places him as the party's second-largest contributor, behind Thailand-based cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne. Harborne has donated £15m to the party since the last election and £5m to Nigel Farage personally before May 2024.

New donation figures from the Electoral Commission indicate that Harborne made no donations during the second quarter of the year, nor did billionaire Sasan Ghandehari, who recently pledged to contribute millions.

Both Harborne and Ghandehari could be affected by the donor cap, introduced in March, which requires donors to be on the UK domestic electoral register for at least twelve months or face a £100,000 annual limit.

Delo had been expected to fall under the cap after writing in the Telegraph that his first donation of the year occurred before the government's cap on donations from British citizens living abroad.

However, a Reform source indicated the party was confident it would not need to return any of Delo's latest £4m, suggesting he may have been registered on the UK domestic electoral register for longer than previously believed.

Andy Burnham's government is reviewing whether to introduce an annual cap on donations from UK donors, in addition to overseas donors, following the launch of a new task force focused on addressing the issue of UK-based major donors. No cap was included in the new elections bill this week, partly due to concerns from trade unions about their ability to contribute.

The latest figures show £17m in donations to political parties in the second quarter, compared to £11m in the previous year, as parties prepare for a potential earlier election under Burnham.

Labour received £650,000 from Autoglass founder Gary Lubner and supermarket tycoon Lord Sainsbury, while entrepreneur Ali Mosawi contributed £550,000.

The Conservative party received £265,000 from Flowidea, a firm owned by banker Henry Angest.

Restore Britain received its largest-ever donation of £250,000 from Cade Hill Investments, owned by tech entrepreneur Simon Galbraith.

Delo, pardoned by Trump last year, is reportedly in the process of returning to the UK.

In his Telegraph article in April, Delo explained his motivations, stating that England was his home and that "the biggest obstacle to national recovery is the entrenched self-deception of our elites."

"Their regime of nonsense now poses such a grave threat to the UK that, for the first time in my life, I've become politically active," he wrote. "Since the start of this year, I have donated £4m to help Nigel Farage to build Reform UK into a genuine alternative party of government. It is already leading in the polls by virtue of recognising and articulating the full scale of the problems our country faces. For the first time, I feel that serious people are looking honestly at what it might take to fix Britain."

He added that, as a person on the autism spectrum, he objected to "the official culture of government now forces everyone to be chronically dishonest," referencing views on transgender people.

Delo was convicted in the US in 2022 after pleading guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering controls at BitMEX, the cryptocurrency exchange he co-founded.

In his Telegraph article, he wrote: "I helped build one of the world's first major crypto trading platforms, fell foul of US regulators, accepted a plea bargain and a civil fine for a regulatory failing that isn't even a crime in the UK, but then ended up being pardoned by Donald Trump, the US president, anyway."

Delo, an Oxford graduate who describes himself as a free speech advocate, supports more than 50 organisations across the political spectrum and public life, including non-affiliated groups and individuals.

A CuriosityNews investigation into Delo's political connections in Westminster found he had provided support in kind to Rupert Lowe, an anti-migration MP challenging Nigel Farage from the right, while also engaging with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and former cabinet minister Michael Gove.

Delo's lawyers previously told CuriosityNews he provided space for individuals with diverse views to express them, along with financial support to a broad range of organisations, many holding conflicting views, without endorsing each organisation's opinions.