Key facts
- Reform UK received an additional £4 million donation from crypto entrepreneur Ben Delo.
- Ben Delo was previously pardoned by Donald Trump after pleading guilty to U.S. banking secrecy violations.
- This latest donation brings Delo's total contributions to Reform UK to £8 million.
- The donation is subject to scrutiny under new regulations capping donations from British citizens living abroad.
- Reform UK is confident the donation will not be returned despite potential donor cap issues.
Reform UK has received another £4 million donation from British crypto billionaire Ben Delo, who was previously pardoned by Donald Trump. This latest contribution brings Delo's total donations to the party to £8 million, making him the second-largest donor after Christopher Harborne, another crypto investor who has given £15 million. The party stated it is confident Delo's donation will not be subject to the new £100,000 annual cap on donations from British citizens living abroad, suggesting he may be registered domestically for longer than previously understood.
Delo, who co-founded the cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX, pleaded guilty in the U.S. in 2022 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering controls. He described his regulatory failing as not being a crime in the UK and expressed his motivation for political activism stemmed from a belief that "the biggest obstacle to national recovery is the entrenched self-deception of our elites."
In the second quarter of the year, Reform UK raised a total of £5.3 million. This figure surpasses the £3.6 million raised by the Labour Party and the £2.8 million collected by the Conservative Party. Notably, major donors like Christopher Harborne and Sasan Ghandehari did not contribute in this quarter, potentially due to the new donor cap implemented in March. The government is considering further measures to cap donations from UK-based mega-donors.