In England, Reform UK leader and MP Nigel Farage is subject to an official investigation by the parliament’s ethics committee for failing to report the £5 million ($6.8 million) donation he received from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne. Farage received this donation weeks before announcing that he would run in the election and did not make the relevant notification after he was elected MP from Clapton.
Crypto Industry and Political Donations
Harborne, merkezi Tayland’da bulunan ve istikrarlı kripto para birimi Tether’da %12’lik payı olan bir iş insanı olarak biliniyor. Farage ise Birleşik Krallık’ta kripto para sektörüne desteğiyle öne çıkan siyasilerden biri olarak dikkat çekiyor. The £5 million donation in question was not publicly declared, despite the mandatory rule for newly elected MPs to register financial contributions received within 12 months.
Political Developments and Debates
Haftalık YouGov anketi, Reform UK’nın oy oranını %28 olarak gösteriyor ve parti, seçimlerde birinci çıkmaya yakın görünüyor. While these results showed that Farage’s possible path to the prime ministership was opened, the review regarding the donation also brought about political debates.
Farage emphasized that the donation from Harborne was solely for personal security expenses and explained that there was no legal obligation to report it. Reform UK also argued that this support was considered a personal gift only and was exempt from existing rules. On the other hand, Labor and other parties are of the view that the donation is subject to parliamentary rules. The payment in question was reported to the relevant commission of the parliament last month.
İngiltere hükümeti, Mart ayında politik bağışlara kripto para yoluyla katkıların geçici olarak durdurulmasını kararlaştırdı. Bu karar, dijital varlıkların yurtdışından siyaset finansmanında olası riskleri nedeniyle alındı. Under the new regulation, all party donations made with digital assets are prohibited and this rule will be included in the Representatives Act. Kurala uymayanlar için ise ceza hükümleri öngörülüyor.
In April, Ben Delo, one of the co-founders of the BitMEX exchange, announced that he had donated a total of 4 million pounds to Reform UK since the beginning of the year. Bu da partinin, dijital varlıklar dünyasından önemli miktarda bağış aldığına işaret ediyor.
It was noted that ethics commissioner Daniel Greenberg will launch an investigation into whether Farage “diligently fulfilled” his obligations regarding declarations of interest. Farage’ın ismi henüz komisyonun mevcut soruşturmalar listesinde yer almıyor fakat inceleme süreci önümüzdeki haftalarda ilerleyebilir.
While recent developments have led to a closer follow-up of the relations between British politics and the cryptocurrency world, the transparency obligations of political parties have become a subject of discussion again.
