Reform UK given record £36m by Ben Delo, he says

Cryptocurrency billionaire Ben Delo said on September 11 that he had donated £36 million, or $49 million, to Nigel Farage's Reform UK, describing it as a single payment meant to help the party prepare for government.

Delo made the announcement in a Daily Telegraph article. He said Reform lacked the long-term financial backing of Labour and the Conservatives and that he wanted to give the party £1 million a month until the next general election, which is due by mid-2029. He said he had therefore front-loaded the donations into one payment.

The gift would be the largest reported donation from a living person to a British political party. The previous reported record was a £9 million donation to Reform last year from crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne. The record for a bequest remains the £10 million left to the Conservatives by John Sainsbury in 2022.

Britain's election watchdog data showed Delo had already given Reform £4 million in two payments in January and March. Delo is based in Hong Kong but has said he will move back to Britain before a planned Labour cap on donations from foreign donors.

Delo, a co-founder of the BitMEX cryptocurrency exchange, pleaded guilty in the United States in 2022 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act and was pardoned by President Donald Trump in 2025.

The announcement came days after police confirmed they had widened a criminal investigation into allegations that Reform accepted illegal donations. Reform leader Nigel Farage has denied wrongdoing. He told The Telegraph he was honoured and humbled that Delo had shown confidence in the party.