Crypto billionaire Ben Delo has handed Reform a record-breaking £36million donation.
Mr Delo, co-founder of a cryptocurrency trading platform, said the money was intended to help Nigel Farage’s party compete on a “fair fight” footing at the next general election.
Already Reform’s second-biggest financial backer, Mr Delo said he decided to make the latest contribution after what he described as a difficult summer for the party, arguing that its senior figures should spend less time fundraising and more time preparing for government.
Mr Farage’s party is currently being investigated by Scotland Yard over separate allegations that it breached donation rules.
The police inquiry follows a Channel 4 undercover investigation last week, which alleged that two senior figures in Mr Farage’s team had attempted to get around rules governing foreign donations.
Reform has denied any wrongdoing.
The previous record political donation, worth £10million, was left to the Conservatives. Mr Delo had already donated £8million to Reform, placing him behind only fellow crypto businessman Christopher Harborne, who previously gave the party £9million.
A separate £5million donation from Thailand-based Mr Harborne to Mr Farage is now the subject of a parliamentary sleaze inquiry.
Ben Delo, co-founder of the crypto trading platform BitMEX, said his record £36million donation to Reform was made to give the party a “fair fight” at the next general election
Nigel Farage, pictured on September 6, 2026, said he was “honoured” and “humbled” by the donation
The Reform leader initially said the money was intended to fund his security for the rest of his life, before later describing it as a “reward” for his years campaigning for Brexit.
He triggered this summer’s farcical Clacton by-election in an attempt to put the scrutiny behind him, but the investigation resumed after he held the seat. Every other major party declined to contest the ballot, leaving comedy candidate Count Binface as Mr Farage’s main opponent.
The record gift means Reform has now raised five times as much as the Conservatives and six times as much as Labour this year alone.
Mr Delo made his first billion just four years after founding his crypto firm, BitMex, in 2014.
He pleaded guilty to failing to implement an anti-money laundering programme in the US in 2022 but was pardoned by president Donald Trump last year.
‘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,’ he told The Telegraph last night.
He pledged £36million to the party after vowing to give Reform £1million a month between now and the latest possible general election date in 2029.
But, he said, he would gift it in one go to defy any Government bid to block the donations.
It comes after Labour put a cap of £100,000 on donations political parties could receive from overseas donors.
Mr Delo says he wants Reform to be able to focus on preparing for government rather than focusing on fundraising
Mr Delo, who recently moved back to the UK from Hong Kong as a result, took a swipe at the move, as well as further reform on party funding in Labour’s Representation of the People Bill.
He lambasted it as ‘an attempt at election rigging’, adding that Labour’s millions from unions would be unaffected.
Mr Farage said he was ‘honoured’ and ‘humbled’ by the gift.
The money, it is understood, will be used to allow Reform to recruit ‘the best brains’ to its policy unit and expand the number of campaign managers it has.
‘This is about preparing for government,’ said a senior party source, with Reform convinced Prime Minister Andy Burnham is set to call an early election.
A Labour Party spokesperson said: ‘Nigel Farage is still up to his neck in scandal over his secret £5 million “gift” from his other crypto-billionaire backer and the criminal investigation into potentially illegal donations. The questions he faces aren’t going away – in fact they’re piling up.
‘Reform UK can’t buy their way out of questions about sleaze, criminal mates and dodgy finances.
‘It’s time Farage and Reform finally came clean with the public, co-operated fully with the police, and proved they’re not just in it for themselves.
