Reform UK’s Farage Claims 'No Obligation' to Declare Tether Billionaire's $6.7M Gift

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said that he was under “no obligation” to declare a $6.7 million (£5 million) personal gift from Christopher Harborne, a crypto billionaire with a 12% stake in stablecoin issuer Tether.

"Believe you me, we've looked at this from every legal angle," Farage told broadcasters Tuesday, adding that, “there is no obligation to declare something that is an unconditional, non-political, personal gift.”

Farage cited past threats to his safety, including a firebombing of his home, as justification for the gift, stating that it would help "ensure I can be safe for the rest of my life."

Conservatives have since referred the matter to Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Daniel Greenberg, asking him to examine whether any portion of the £5 million actually funded political activity.

Farage said he would not refer himself to the watchdog, arguing that there was “no case to answer.”

Labour chair Anna Turley said Farage "appears to have broken the rules again," while Reform UK has maintained the transaction was exempt from declaration as it was received before he intended to stand for Parliament.

Farage's denial follows last month's revelation that the £5 million personal gift, made in June 2024 months before he announced his candidacy for the Clacton seat, was never disclosed under UK campaign finance laws.

Christopher Harborne and Reform UK

Harborne, who resides in Thailand and holds a 12% stake in stablecoin issuer Tether, has separately donated £12 million to Reform UK, including a £9 million contribution last year that stands as the largest single political donation from a living individual in British history.

Harborne told the Telegraph last week he believed he was "the reason" the government had introduced a cap on overseas donations, saying he did not believe the government had "a right to stop me" and had not ruled out returning to the UK to circumvent it.

He insisted he was "not expecting anything in return" for the £5 million gift to Farage "apart from ensuring his safety," and claimed a legal document had been signed confirming the gift was "unconditional and irrevocable."

Decrypt has reached out to Tether and Farage’s office for comment and will update this article should a response be provided.

The reveal of Harborne’s £5 million gift to Farage comes as donations related to the crypto industry are coming under scrutiny in the UK.

Just over a month ago, the UK government imposed an immediate moratorium on crypto donations to political parties, following the Rycroft review into foreign electoral interference.

Neither Harborne’s donations to Reform UK, nor his gift to Farage, were made in the form of crypto.

Philip Rycroft, a former Permanent Secretary commissioned by the government in December 2025 to review foreign financial interference in UK politics, warned the country was "ringing the alarm bell," concluding that even marginal impacts from hostile actors "could have a disproportionate bearing on the civility of democratic discourse."

Rycroft concluded that the risk of crypto assets being used "as the vehicle to channel foreign money into the political system" was "unacceptable," recommending a moratorium he described as "an interlude" instead of as a permanent ban, while noting that donors could still sell their crypto holdings and donate the proceeds through traditional banking channels.

Reform UK, the only major party to have accepted crypto donations, reportedly walked out of Parliament at the time the moratorium was announced, seemingly in response to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s suggestion that there was "only one party leader who has shown he will say anything, no matter how divisive, if he is paid to do so."