UK Labour MPs push to make crypto donation ban permanent amid fallout over Reform UK's funding sources.
Regulation & Gov ·
Labour MPs are preparing amendments to legislation that would transform the UK's temporary freeze on cryptocurrency political donations into a permanent prohibition, according to reporting on the campaign. The initiative is being driven by Parliament's all-party anti-corruption group and had secured at least 20 signatures by midday Thursday. Liam Byrne, chair of the Labour business select committee, characterized the effort as essential protection for democratic integrity, citing what he described as Reform UK's resistance to financial transparency. The proposal represents one of four separate amendments tabled by Labour lawmakers, alongside measures to reduce campaign spending limits from £34 million to £24.4 million, impose restrictions on party coffers at formation, and establish safeguards against foreign interference through donations.
The concrete impetus stems from recent high-value transfers to Nigel Farage's Reform UK party. Crypto billionaires Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo provided multimillion-pound contributions, neither denominated in cryptocurrency itself. The UK had implemented a moratorium on digital-asset political donations in March, following recommendations from the Rycroft Review, which warned that crypto's anonymity could enable covert foreign influence. The proposed amendment would eliminate the temporary status and establish a permanent legal bar, closing a pathway the original review's author had intended to remain open for regulatory development.
Whether Labour can secure government backing for the permanent ban remains unclear. The party first accepted cryptocurrency donations in June 2025, and the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner is investigating a separate £5 million gift from Harborne to Farage that preceded his parliamentary candidacy announcement.