Reform UK now accepts crypto donations, among calls to ban Bitcoin donations

In a landmark move that may reshape the future of political fundraising in the UK, Reform UK announced it will begin accepting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as donations. 

The announcement, made by the party leader Nigel Farage during a speech at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, marks the first time a major UK political party has embraced assets as part of its donor infrastructure. 

The decision appears to underscore Reform UK’s ongoing campaign to position itself as the party of innovation, financial sovereignty and digital freedom. Known for its populist, right-leaning stance, Reform UK has steadily attracted support among disillusioned Conservatives and younger voters, skeptical of traditional and legacy British Political parties. The party has called for radical tax reforms, the reduction of bureaucracy, and generally resists what it considers to be the overreach of centralised governmental authority. 

Now, by embracing cryptocurrency donations, Reform is doubling down on its anti-establishment politics and advocation for decentralization, through their framing of crypto as the currency of personal liberty and resistance against a centralized authority.

Party Leader Farage’s embrace of crypto is more than just symbolic. Alongside the announcement, the party is proposing a wide-ranging ‘Crypto Assets and Digital Finance Bill’ that would lower capital gains tax on crypto holdings, from 24% to 10%, create a Bitcoin reserve at the Bank of England, and also allow citizens to pay taxes using crypto. 

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Beneath the political theatre, there is a complex legal framework in effect. UK political donations, whether in Pound Sterling or in crypto currency, are tightly regulated. Under Electoral Commission rules, all donations must come from permissible sources, and political parties are required to identify and report donors. For cryptocurrency contributions, this means implementing the same due diligence as with fiat: donors need to be verified, and funds must be screened to ensure they do not originate from illicit sources. 

Reform UK has partnered with Radom, a UK based crypto payments firm, to handle these processes. As a registered Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP), is subject to oversight by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the regulator, and must conduct full Anti-Money Laundering procedures, such as KYT (Know-Your-Transaction) and KYC (Know-Your-Customer), before any donation reaches the party’s wallet. 

The transparency of blockchain technology, paradoxically, provides a layer of accountability: while wallet addresses are pseudonymous, their activity is public. With proper transaction monitoring, and KYC, crypto donations can be as traceable as traditional bank transfers, despite the pseudonymous nature of crypto. 

As a crypto transaction monitoring platform, we view this development as both a milestone and a litmus test. On one hand, it’s a bold step toward legitimising digital assets in public finance. On the other, it places new and important pressure on political organisations to handle crypto with the same or even more scrutiny as traditional donations. 

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The risk of accepting tainted or sanctioned funds is not hypothetical; without robust on-chain and off-chain, constant analytics, and proactive flagging of suspicious wallets, even well-meaning campaigns could become conduits for illicit assets. 

Reform UK’s use of a registered VASP is a good start, but ultimately, transparency and real-time monitoring must remain front and centre to maintain the integrity of political financing in the digital age. 

The move could have far reaching implications, and tell an interesting story reflecting the correlation between crypto owners, and Reform UK’s voters. The typical demographics of crypto ownership skew towards young, male and libertarian individuals, and this profile aligns well with supporters of the party. 

With 2025 surveys suggesting that amongst a quarter of respondents in the UK own digital assets, accepting crypto donations could widen Reform’s appeal and deepen its financial war chest, ahead of future general elections. 

This development also places pressure on other UK political parties to modernize their own fundraising tools. While Labour and the Conservatives, the main political parties of the UK, have previously displayed interest in tech, including in their policy implementation, neither has embraced digital assets in campaign finance. Reform UK’s move may force a re-evaluation, not only of crypto’s legitimacy and place in politics, but of the role of digital assets in national economic strategy in general. 

Cabinet Officer minister Pat McFadden, a close ally of the Prime Minister Kier Starmer, warned against the introduction of crypto donations to political parties, suggesting that it would increase the likelihood of ‘foreign powers using [crypto] to influence British Politics’. McFadden is a member of the Labour Party, currently in power, whereas Reform UK represents a minor opposition party. It is relevant to consider the possibility that not only McFadden is concerned about the introduction of potentially ‘untraceable money’, according to McFadden, but it is also in his interest to reduce the opportunities for an opposition party to raise funding. 

In embracing cryptocurrency, Reform UK is not just experimenting with a new payment method, it is signalling a future where digital assets play a role in campaign finance. Whether this gamble ultimately pays off at the ballot box remains to be seen, however it is clear that British politics has officially appeared on the blockchain. 

Reform UK accepts crypto donations: FAQs

Q: Why is Reform UK’s acceptance of cryptocurrency donations considered a landmark move? 

For the UK, this is the first instance when a political party has embraced digital assets like Bitcoin for campaign donations. This move signals a shift towards modernizing political fundraising, and could influence other parties to explore similar innovations. It also increases the urgency for political fundraising to create systems and frameworks to ensure the legitimacy of funds, either fiat or crypto. 

Q: How does UK law treat political donations made in cryptocurrency? 

Crypto donations are subject to the same legal requirements as fiat donations. Under Electoral Commission rules, donations must come from permissible sources, and parties must conduct due diligence to identify donors and verify that funds are not illicit or sanctioned. 

Q: How can identification of donors be performed if wallets are pseudonymous? 

Blockchain technology is transparent, so wallet addresses and their transaction histories are available for public viewing. When combined with robust transaction monitoring, and upholding KYC regulations, crypto donations can be just as traceable than traditional bank transfers, despite the wallets having a pseudonymous nature. 

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