Wednesday, October 15, 2025
A threat to financial and political transparency
The paper says that when Elon Musk appeared on huge screens dotted along Whitehall calling for thousands of attendees at far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom rally to “fight back… or die”, the tech billionaire’s image was accompanied by the logos of the event’s sponsors. All but one were cryptocurrencies.
They say that these images highlighted the arrival in Britain of a global pattern: the embrace by extreme rightwing movements of decentralised digital currencies:
Authorities have long warned that cryptocurrencies pose an urgent challenge to the UK’s democracy by enabling hostile state actors and foreign nationals to secretly donate to political parties.
Tom Keatinge, director of the Royal United Services Institute’s Centre for Finance and Security, said: “The average person in the UK might think of it as being a marginal thing, but in that [far-right] community – which is a growing community – it’s mainstream.
“Historically, there’s been one form of money. It’s been issued by the central bank, and that’s been controlled by the government. That isn’t the case any more.”
The article points out that Athena Bitcoin Global, one of the main sponsors of the event, which saw up to 150,000 people gather in central London, has been accused of profiting from cybercrime in the US.
Meanwhile, senior Labour MPs have expressed concern about the prospect of crypto-based political donations and are pressing ministers to delay the much anticipated elections bill, designed to change electoral oversight laws, so that it can include a clause banning them. Ireland, Brazil and Greenland have all banned crypto donations.
These concerns crystallised last weekend with a report in the Observer that several sources told the paper that the Electoral Commission had been given prior notice by a party, understood to be Reform UK, that it had received a donation made in cryptocurrency in recent weeks:
Reform is the only political party in Europe to accept donations in crypto, something that its leader, Nigel Farage, announced at a bitcoin conference in Las Vegas in spring. Its party conference in Birmingham last month was sponsored by several alternative finance groups, including at least two crypto companies.
While the value of the donation is not yet known, parties only need to notify the commission if they have received more than £11,180 centrally. MPs, who have a lower reporting threshold of £2,230, are expected to declare donations on their register first.
A Reform spokesman said: “All donations above the reporting limit will be disclosed in the usual way.”
We need more transparency in politics, not less. That is why it is so important that controls are imposed on crypto currency donations.
Authorities have long warned that cryptocurrencies pose an urgent challenge to the UK’s democracy by enabling hostile state actors and foreign nationals to secretly donate to political parties.
Tom Keatinge, director of the Royal United Services Institute’s Centre for Finance and Security, said: “The average person in the UK might think of it as being a marginal thing, but in that [far-right] community – which is a growing community – it’s mainstream.
“Historically, there’s been one form of money. It’s been issued by the central bank, and that’s been controlled by the government. That isn’t the case any more.”
The article points out that Athena Bitcoin Global, one of the main sponsors of the event, which saw up to 150,000 people gather in central London, has been accused of profiting from cybercrime in the US.
Meanwhile, senior Labour MPs have expressed concern about the prospect of crypto-based political donations and are pressing ministers to delay the much anticipated elections bill, designed to change electoral oversight laws, so that it can include a clause banning them. Ireland, Brazil and Greenland have all banned crypto donations.
These concerns crystallised last weekend with a report in the Observer that several sources told the paper that the Electoral Commission had been given prior notice by a party, understood to be Reform UK, that it had received a donation made in cryptocurrency in recent weeks:
Reform is the only political party in Europe to accept donations in crypto, something that its leader, Nigel Farage, announced at a bitcoin conference in Las Vegas in spring. Its party conference in Birmingham last month was sponsored by several alternative finance groups, including at least two crypto companies.
While the value of the donation is not yet known, parties only need to notify the commission if they have received more than £11,180 centrally. MPs, who have a lower reporting threshold of £2,230, are expected to declare donations on their register first.
A Reform spokesman said: “All donations above the reporting limit will be disclosed in the usual way.”
We need more transparency in politics, not less. That is why it is so important that controls are imposed on crypto currency donations.
