- Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne each donated £36 million to Reform UK, a combined £72 million in two days.
- Delo's £36 million is the largest single political donation in British history.
- Both donors made their fortunes in crypto — Delo co-founded BitMEX, Harborne is a Tether investor.
Two crypto billionaires have each given Nigel Farage's Reform UK £36 million, delivering a combined £72 million to the party in two days. Ben Delo's contribution is the largest single donation in British political history, and Christopher Harborne matched it on Saturday, according to The Block.
The scale is without precedent. A single £36 million gift dwarfs the donations that normally shape a British election cycle — and here there were two in 48 hours.
For scale, Delo's £36 million is worth roughly $48.7 million. Political parties in Britain typically report their largest individual gifts in the single-digit millions, which is why a £36 million donation — let alone two — resets what the record even means.
Who Are the Two Donors?
Ben Delo, 42, co-founded the crypto exchange BitMEX in 2014 with Arthur Hayes and Samuel Reed. Christopher Harborne is a Thailand-based businessman and a well-known investor in Tether, and was already Reform UK's biggest donor before this contribution, as reported by ITV News.
Both men built their wealth in digital assets. That is what makes the timing notable: crypto fortunes are now among the largest single forces in British party funding.
Why £72 Million Matters for Reform UK
Money at this scale changes what a party can do. Reform UK can expand staff, infrastructure and outreach well beyond its previous capacity, ahead of the next voting cycle.
It also ties a rising political force directly to the crypto industry's biggest winners. For a sector that spends heavily on lobbying elsewhere, £72 million into one party is a clear statement of where some of its wealth is going. Our crypto business coverage tracks where industry money moves.
What to Watch Next
Donations this large draw scrutiny. Expect questions over transparency and the growing role of crypto wealth in politics, in the UK and beyond, as regulators weigh how digital-asset fortunes intersect with campaign finance. The regulation desk follows that thread.
The open question now is whether other parties respond, and whether this reshapes how crypto money enters politics before the next election.