BitMEX co-founder Ben Delo has donated £4 million to Reform UK, bringing his total contributions to Nigel Farage's party to £8 million this year, Electoral Commission records published Thursday reveal.
The donations consisted of two payments: £1 million on April 17 and £3 million on April 30. Together, these gifts represented 75% of the £5.33 million Reform accepted in donations during the period, making them the two largest single gifts to any British political party that quarter.
Delo is now the second-largest donor to Reform this year, behind Christopher Harborne, a Thailand-based Tether stakeholder who has contributed £15 million since the last election. Reform out-raised Labour, which accepted £3.59 million in the same quarter, though the Conservative Party reported higher overall donations.
Regulatory context: Since March, UK electoral law requires donors to have been on the electoral register for 12 months before giving more than £100,000 annually. A Reform source told The Guardian the party is confident it will not need to return Delo's £4 million donation, suggesting he met the residency requirement.
Neither Delo's nor Harborne's donations were made in cryptocurrency, despite Britain banning crypto political donations in March. Reform was the only major party accepting such payments before the ban took effect.
Delo pleaded guilty in 2022 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act over anti-money laundering failures at BitMEX. President Donald Trump pardoned him and fellow co-founders Arthur Hayes and Samuel Reed in 2025. BitMEX, which Delo co-founded in 2014, is winding down operations and is set to close on September 23.
The donations arrive as Reform faces increased scrutiny over its funding. Two senior party officials—aide Dan Jukes and policy chief James Orr—stepped down after Channel 4 aired footage showing them arranging £32,500 in polling funding from what they believed was a U.S. company but was actually controlled by undercover journalists. Farage stated Reform had taken no illegal money and ordered an internal investigation. The Electoral Commission is in touch with the Metropolitan Police, which has not opened an inquiry.
