Reform UK Gets Britain's Biggest Political Donation Ever From Tether Investor

In brief

• Reform UK landed a record-breaking $11.4 million (£9 million) donation from Christopher Harborne, the largest gift ever made to a UK political party by a living donor.
• The contribution helped push Reform’s Q3 fundraising to more than $12.9 million (£10.2 million), more than double that of the Tories.
• Harborne, a longtime donor across the British political spectrum, was listed as a shareholder of Bitfinex and Tether parent company DigFinex between 2017 and 2018.

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A Thailand-based investor in crypto firms just handed Nigel Farage’s Reform UK $11.4 million (£9 million), the largest single donation to a British political party from a living donor.

Christopher Harborne, who has been listed as a shareholder in the parent company of stablecoin issuer Tether, pushed Reform UK’s total donations to more than $12.9 million (£10.2 million) between July and September, according to Electoral Commission figures released Thursday.

That’s more than double what the Conservatives raised at $5.8 million (£4.6 million), and miles ahead of Labour’s $2.7 million (£2.1 million) and the Liberal Democrats’ $1.3 million (£1 million).

The donation points to crypto-related funds making serious inroads into British politics ahead of the next general election.

It also marks the first quarter since last year’s general election that Reform UK has out-fundraised the Conservatives, as Farage’s party leads in national opinion polls.

Reform UK has already staked out a position for itself as the crypto industry’s champion in Westminster, with Farage promising to slash capital gains taxes on cryptocurrency and force the Bank of England to establish a Bitcoin reserve.

Harborne’s donation dwarfed all other Q3 contributions, with the next-largest being games programmer Jeremy Elliott San’s $1.3 million (£1 million) to the Conservatives, followed by Labour’s $459,000 (£362,625) from Unite and the Liberal Democrats’ $63,300 (£50,000) from Neale Powell-Cook.

Mega donor

The reclusive Harborne also pumped $12.7 million (£10 million) into Reform UK’s predecessor the Brexit Party between 2019 and 2020.

A Protos report found Harborne listed as a shareholder of DigFinex, the parent company of Bitfinex and Tether, between 2017 and 2018. According to sources familiar with the matter cited by Protos, Harborne used his alternate Thai identity, Chakrit Sakunkrit, to invest funds with the British Virgin Islands-based company.

The Wall Street Journa l reported in March 2023 that Tether and Bitfinex allegedly used falsified documents and shell companies to secure access to the U.S. banking system.

Harborne then filed a defamation lawsuit over the WSJarticle, claiming that it falsely portrayed him and his company, AML Global, as participants in improper banking activity. Lawyers for Harborne stated that he holds roughly 12% of Bitfinex and sister company Tether, but has no operational role in either firm.

The businessman allegedly accompanied former Prime Minister Boris Johnson on a September 2023 trip to Ukraine, registered as “adviser, Office of Boris Johnson,” according to leaked files obtained by the Guardian.

The visit came less than a year after Harborne donated $1.3 million (£1 million) to Johnson, thought to be the largest donation ever to an individual MP.

Rules under review

While there’s no suggestion that Harborne’s donation to Reform UK was made in the form of cryptocurrency, it comes at a time when crypto donations to political parties are facing growing scrutiny in the UK.

Labour MP Pat McFadden has previously called for a ban on crypto political donations in July, citing concerns about illicit financing. At the time, a Reform UK spokesperson told Decryptthat McFadden’s comments were “emblematic of Labour’s outdated and out-of-touch attitude towards crypto.”

McFadden’s call came two months after Farage announced that Reform UK would become Britain’s first party to accept crypto donations, with its website now taking Bitcoin, Solana, Ethereum, and USDC.

In October, the Electoral Commission announced plans to review and update its approach to crypto-based political financing.

Decrypt has reached out to Tether, AML Global, Bitfinex, and Pat McFadden’s office for comment.