Reform UK to accept Bitcoin donations, says Farage

Reform UK will accept donations in the form of Bitcoin, Nigel Farage has announced, becoming the first British party to do so.

Speaking at a cryptocurrency conference in Las Vegas on Thursday, the party's leader held up a draft of a "Crypto Assets and Digital Finance Bill" that he said he would pass if he was elected prime minister.

"Let's recognise that crypto, Bitcoin, digital assets are here to stay", he said, telling the audience Reform would launch a "crypto revolution" in the UK.

Last month, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she would regulate the asset like traditional finance companies to make the UK a "world leader" amid concern from MPs over the asset's volatility for owners.

Reform UK's website was updated on Thursday evening to allow for the donations.

Farage's draft bill proposes several changes to the treatment of crypto in the UK, such as cutting capital gains taxes on crypto assets to 10%, from the current maximum of 24%, as well as instating a "Bitcoin digital reserve" at the Bank of England.

"We will campaign for this and we will put it in place at the next general election", he told the applauding crowd.

His announcement comes a month after Reeves published draft legislation to regulate cryptocurrency firms in the UK "just like firms in traditional finance".

Earlier this month, MPs in a Treasury Select Committee instead urged the government to regulate cryptocurrency as it does gambling, saying that the assets risked customers losing their entire investment, as gambling does.

The Treasury told the BBC at the time that it did not support using gambling regulation.

During the fireside chat at the conference Farage also praised the embrace of digital assets in the US as "nothing short of fantastic", saying he wanted to make London "one of the major trading centres of the world".

This admiration comes as US President Donald Trump faces accusations of corruption from protesters and Democratic politicians over his hosting of top buyers of the cryptocurrency that bears his name at a gala dinner.

The White House has rejected these accusations, with Trump saying: "I always put the country way ahead of the business."

Reform's move to accept crypto donations also mirrors Trump's in the 2024 presidential election.

One political action committee, or PAC, raised $7.5m (£3.5m) in cryptocurrency for Trump's campaign, according to reporting from CNBC.