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Ben Delo, the British co-founder of crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX, has given another £4 million to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. That brings his total contributions to £8 million in 2026, making the 42-year-old Oxford graduate the party’s second-largest financial backer.
The donation comes from a man who pleaded guilty to US Bank Secrecy Act violations in 2022 over anti-money laundering failures at BitMEX, only to receive a presidential pardon from Donald Trump in 2025.
Following the money
Delo structured his support in two £4 million tranches. The first arrived in early 2026: £2 million on January 14 and another £2 million on March 2. He announced that initial commitment in an op-ed published in The Daily Telegraph on April 8, describing it as his first foray into political engagement.
In that piece, Delo framed his backing as a response to what he called a “regime of nonsense” perpetuated by UK elites.
The second £4 million tranche landed in Q2 2026, confirmed through Electoral Commission data released on September 3. Reform UK reported £5.3 million in total donations for that quarter, meaning Delo’s contribution alone accounted for roughly 75% of the party’s quarterly fundraising haul.
Only Christopher Harborne, who has reportedly given an estimated £12 to £15 million since the last election, sits above Delo on Reform UK’s donor leaderboard.
A strategic homecoming
The timing of Delo’s return to British soil tells its own story. He had been living in Hong Kong, but the new Labour government introduced a cap of £100,000 on donations from British citizens residing overseas, effective March 2026. Delo relocated back to the UK before the deadline hit.
Delo has been explicit about his intentions, describing his financial support as building a “war chest” for upcoming elections.
Delo co-founded BitMEX in 2014 alongside Arthur Hayes and Samuel Reed. The platform became one of the most influential crypto derivatives exchanges in the world, pioneering perpetual swap contracts that now dominate the market.
In 2020, US prosecutors charged Delo and his co-founders with violating the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering controls. Delo pleaded guilty in 2022. The pardon from Trump in 2025 wiped the slate clean, at least legally.
Crypto wealth meets UK politics
One detail Delo has been careful to emphasize: all of his donations were made in fiat currency, not cryptocurrency. That distinction matters in a political environment where digital asset donations remain a regulatory gray area in the UK.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
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