UK Lawmakers Push to Permanently Ban Crypto Political Donations

British politicians are trying to permanently ban political parties from accepting donations made in cryptocurrency (digital money like Bitcoin that exists only online and can be sent anonymously).

Members of Parliament (MPs, elected lawmakers) from the Labour Party are preparing to "rebel" — meaning they want to push the government to make its rules tougher than currently planned. They're proposing changes (called amendments) to a new law about how political parties are funded.

Why does this matter? The main worry is that because crypto payments can be hard to trace, foreign money could secretly flow into UK politics and influence elections. An official government review (the Rycroft Review) warned about exactly this risk.

Here are the four main changes the MPs want:

• Permanent crypto ban: Turn the current temporary freeze on crypto donations into a permanent law. This amendment already had at least 20 signatures.
• Lower spending limits: Cut how much parties can spend on election campaigns from £34 million to £24.4 million (nearly a third less).
• Startup cash limits: Restrict how much money a new party can hold when it's created.
• Foreign influence checks: Screen donations to spot possible foreign interference.

The background: The UK froze crypto donations in March 2026. The pressure grew after Reform UK, the party led by Nigel Farage, became the first major British party to accept crypto donations in June 2025. Reform also received millions of pounds from crypto billionaires Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo — though those donations were made in regular money, not crypto.

Farage is also facing an official investigation over a £5 million (about $6.7 million) gift from Harborne, an investor in the crypto company Tether.

The bottom line: If these changes pass, the UK would join countries like Ireland and Brazil in completely banning crypto donations to political parties — closing the door on digital money in British politics for good.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://decrypt.co/373130/labour-mps-push-to-make-uk-crypto-donation-ban-permanent