Nigel Farage invests £215,000 in Kwasi Kwarteng’s bitcoin firm

Nigel Farage has invested in Kwasi Kwarteng’s bitcoin reserves company, as the leader of Reform UK aligns himself closer with the cryptocurrency industry.The MP has invested £215,000 in Stack BTC, the crypto business that is chaired by the former Conservative chancellor.Farage, who has long courted the UK’s crypto sector, said he was delighted to have “become an investor in Stack” and “lend my support to the team”.“I have long been one of the UK’s few political advocates for bitcoin, recognising the role digital currencies will play in the future of business and finance,” he said in a statement. “I believe that we can and should be a major global hub for the crypto industry.”It comes as Reform, which has received £12m in political donations from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, strengthens its ties with the sector.Last year it became the first main party in the UK to accept donations through bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Farage has also said he would allow people to pay their taxes with crypto and would set up a sovereign wealth fund of digital currency assets if he gained power.Kwarteng, who is best known his disastrous 2022 mini-budget with Liz Truss, announced he had become executive chair of Stack BTC in October last year. He and his wife together own 5.4% of the company. Farage’s stake now stands at 6.3%.“Nigel’s unwavering support for British business and belief that bitcoin is set to rapidly expand its role in finance is perfectly aligned with the company’s ethos and business plans,” he said in a statement.Stack BTC, which is listed on London’s small-cap stock exchange Aquis, says its strategy is to accumulate bitcoin while buying businesses whose profits are reinvested in the cryptocurrency.The company now owns 21 bitcoins, which is worth just more than £1m. Stack is valued at £6.45m and its shares jumped 67% on Monday morning. However, it is still trading about 18% below the level before it told investors in November that the crypto company would focus on bitcoin.The company’s biggest investor is Paul Withers, who is also the co-founder of the precious metals trader Direct Bullion. He has previously paid Farage for advertising investments in gold coins via his platform.Farage made his investment in Stack BTC through his media company, Thorn in the Side Ltd. It had £3.1m on the books as of 31 May 2025, according to the latest accounts filed at Companies House.While crypto advocates have long advocated bitcoin as a “digital gold”, it has struggled this year against uncertainty around US trade tariffs imposed by Donald Trump and geopolitical tensions. Its value has fallen by 23% this year to $67,652 (£50,739).Trump has used the Oval Office to expand crypto-friendly regulations in the US. Farage travelled to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence on Friday but did not meet the US president, the Financial Times reported.