Reform accused of using third party to turn crypto into cash and hide donors

Reform UK has been converting crypto donations into cash before they reach the party's coffers, obscuring the original sources of the funding.

- Catherine Neilan Whitehall Editor

Last year, Nigel Farage claimed his party had received “a couple” of crypto donations, confirming previous reporting by The Observer.

However, the party has not registered any donations made in the digital currency, prompting Labour to call on the Electoral Commission to investigate.

Sources told The Observer that this is because Reform’s crypto donations had “come into a wallet controlled by a permissible donor” and were then turned into a regular currency such as sterling, noting that they were concerned because “this makes it much harder to track”.

Crypto wallets all have an address that acts as a public ID through which all transactions are recorded on a blockchain - a ledger showing the movement of crypto funds. While it is possible to track movements between wallets, it is not possible to tell who ultimately owns the wallet.