A second cryptocurrency billionaire revealed on Saturday he had matched a £36 million (HK$382.1 million) donation — the largest gift in UK political history — given to Nigel Farage's Reform party the previous day.

The twin donations come despite anti-immigration Reform being mired in several funding scandals, including one involving the Thai-based British businessman, Christopher Harborne, who made the latest contribution.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Harborne said it was "a philanthropic gift to our country" aimed at helping the party prepare for government and create the kind of infrastructure older more established parties have built.

It follows fellow crypto-magnate Ben Delo, who is based in Hong Kong, revealing in the same newspaper his record donation, insisting he wanted Reform to face "a fair fight and a level playing field".

Delo, co-founder of the BitMEX cryptocurrency exchange, said he wanted to give the party £1 million a month until the next general election — due by mid-2029 — and so had "front-loaded these donations" into a single £36-million payment.

The 42-year-old, who pleaded guilty in the United States in 2022 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act but was pardoned by US President Donald Trump in 2025, had already given Reform £4 million this year, according to election watchdog filings.

The new twin gifts each smash the previous reported record for a single donation from a living person to a UK political party, which Harborne himself had set last year when he gave Reform £9 million.

The record for a bequest remains the £10 million left to the centre-right Conservatives by the late British businessman and politician John Sainsbury in 2022.

Farage, a leading figure in the Brexit movement before founding Reform in 2021, welcomed the donations.

"Thanks to the generosity of Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo, Reform will now be able to fight and win the next general election on a level playing field," he said on X.

His party had topped national opinion polls since early last year, but has seen its lead slip to centre-left Labour in recent months amid multiple funding controversies.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham replacing Keir Starmer in Downing Street in July is also seen as having rejuvenated the ruling Labour's prospects.

News of the mega-donations came just days after police confirmed they had widened a criminal investigation into allegations Reform accepted illegal donations following fresh claims last week. (AFP)




Edited by Tony Sabine