The UK government has introduced strict new rules capping political donations from British citizens abroad at £100,000 annually and imposing an immediate moratorium on cryptocurrency contributions. The measures, prompted by scrutiny of large gifts from a Tether-linked billionaire to Reform UK, aim to curb foreign financial influence. Communities Secretary Steve Reed described the threat as more acute due to tracing challenges with overseas funds and crypto.
Christopher Harborne, a British-born billionaire living in Thailand with Thai citizenship and a reported 12% stake in Tether, has donated more than £24 million to Reform UK and its predecessors since 2019. This includes a record £9 million in late 2025 and £3 million in March 2026, according to the Guardian's investigation. These contributions represent about two-thirds of Reform UK's total funding, supporting a party that advocates crypto deregulation, a state Bitcoin reserve, and opposition to Bank of England stablecoin limits under leader Nigel Farage. Reform denies donor influence on its policies and accepts digital asset donations, including BTC. Harborne's lawyers describe him as a passive investor without executive control at Tether, the stablecoin issuer with $184 billion in USDT circulation. The Rycroft Review, published March 25, 2026, and led by former civil servant Philip Rycroft, highlighted vulnerabilities in UK political finance from foreign interference, including crypto opacity. In response, new measures in the Representation of the People Bill cap donations from UK-registered overseas citizens at £100,000 per year and ban all crypto donations without exceptions, effective from March 25 with retrospective force. Parties must return non-compliant gifts within 30 days of passage or face criminal penalties. The crypto ban is temporary, pending better traceability via FCA regulations. Reform UK, holding eight Commons seats, faces the sharpest impact, with Harborne's future gifts limited by over 99%. The rules prioritize residency over citizenship for large donations, amid broader debates on donor concentration ahead of the 2029 election.
