Second crypto billionaire donates record $49m to far-right Reform UK

The two donations increase the total sum of money pledged to Reform since Friday to $97m.A second British billionaire has made a record donation of almost $49m to the far-right Reform UK party, matching the amount pledged by another businessman the day before.Writing in the Daily Telegraph British newspaper on Saturday, donor Christopher Harborne said the $48.7m (£36m) donation was a “philanthropic gift” to the country, adding that he felt “inspired” to match the contribution made by fellow billionaire Ben Delo 24 hours earlier.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Why is Farage’s Reform accused of violating the UK’s foreign funding rules?list 2 of 3Nigel Farage heckled as he denies Reform UK took illegal fundinglist 3 of 3Reform UK says Britain is broken. Birmingham tells another storyend of listSixty-three-year-old Harborne is a Thailand-based cryptocurrency investor and Delo, 42, is the co-founder of the BitMEX cryptocurrency exchange.Both donations bring the total sum of money pledged to Reform since Friday to $97m.They coincide with a flurry of questions surrounding the party’s finances, with London’s Metropolitan Police confirming earlier this week the launch of a criminal investigation into whether Reform accepted illegal foreign donations.Reform’s leader Nigel Farage celebrated the contributions in a post on X.“You know what Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne want? Nothing,” Farage said.“Just a government that will fix Britain. And that’s what Reform UK will deliver,” he added.The leader of the right-wing Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, criticised Reform, accusing Farage and his colleagues of lacking integrity.“You can buy staff and advertising, but you can’t buy judgement or integrity,” Badenoch posted on X.“Sometimes a bigger cheque just means you make more of the same mistakes. The Conservatives are up for the fight.”