Crypto billionaire gives Reform UK another £4 million in donations
Farage’s party received £5 million in donations between April and June this year, more than any other party
Ben Delo, the crypto billionaire who was convicted in the US for not having adequate anti-money-laundering controls at his crypto firm BitMEX, has donated another £4 million to Reform.
Delo was given a 30-month probation sentence in 2022, but Donald Trump granted him a presidential pardon for the offence in 2025.
Delo gave two lots of £2 million to Reform in January and March this year while he lived in Hong Kong.
In March, Keir Starmer’s government placed a £100,000 cap on donations from overseas electors.
At the time, Delo and fellow crypto investor Christopher Harborne said they would move back to the UK to donate more to Reform. It seems Delo was not affected by the cap, as he donated a further £2 million to Reform in April and another £2 million in May.
According to the latest Electoral Commission data published yesterday, Harborne did not make any donations in quarter two of this year.
Iranian-born Sasan Ghandehari did not make any donations during the quarter either.
In July, Ghandehari pledged to donate millions to Reform despite the donations cap, stating that he was in the process of moving his tax residency from Switzerland to the UK to donate.
Even without donations from some of its biggest backers, Reform received £5.3 million during the quarter.
Reform received by far the largest amount of donations out of any political party, with the Conservatives taking £3.5 million and Labour receiving £2.8 million.
Other notable donations during the quarter include £100,000 from Johan Christofferson, a hedge fund manager and fox hunter who previously donated thousands of pounds to Boris Johnson.
Maria Rost, who appears to be the wife of US crypto and insurance investor John Rost, donated a further £15,000 to Reform. She has donated £130,000 to the party since July 2024.
Sotheby’s International Realty, the real estate branch of Sotheby’s the art dealer, donated £20,000 to Farage’s party in June.
Bassim Haidar, a telecoms and fintech billionaire and one of Reform’s biggest donors, donated a further £192,000 to the party between April and June this year.
Lucas Bitencourt, who is founder of investment firm Arbra, donated £100,000 to Reform UK.
Roger Nagioff, the founder of another investment firm, JRJ Group, also donated £100,000 to the party.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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