A UK lawmaker has asked the financial authorities to investigate Nigel Farage’s promotion of a Bitcoin (BTC) treasury firm, raising concerns about potential market abuse and conflicts of interest due to the politician’s potential ties to the crypto industry.
Farage’s Stack BTC Video Prompts ScrutinyIn the letter, the lawmaker highlighted Farage’s recent appearance in a promotional video for crypto treasury firm Stack BTC, in which he is also an investor, showing him purchasing roughly £2 million in Bitcoin.
Despite the triumph for crypto in British Politics, Cooper considers that Farage’s Bitcoin promotion, alongside his repeated support for digital assets, “raises extremely serious questions about potential market abuse, a conflict of interest, and exposure of ordinary people to financial harm.”
“Taken together, these facts beg the question whether Mr Farage is promoting cryptocurrencies through his political platform in order to inflate crypto values for his own financial benefit, as well as that of his party and his inner circle of donors,” Cooper argued.
She emphasized that “owning and trading cryptocurrencies is a perfectly legitimate activity when done in line with all relevant rules and regulations.” However, Cooper noted that Farage is an influential figure and no politician “should be exploiting their platform to potentially enrich themselves or specific vested interests.”
She urged the FCA CEO to investigate whether Farage’s actions amount to “interference in the cryptocurrency market, whether they may constitute attempted market abuse, and whether his public statements may have exposed ordinary people to financial harm.”
UK Moves To Ban Crypto DonationsIn the letter, Cooper also listed the $18 million crypto donations that Reform UK received in 2025 as a major concern. Last year, Reform UK became the first British political party to accept Bitcoin donations.
She highlighted the $12.2 million donation from Christopher Harborne, a major investor in Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin, USDT. Harborne’s contribution became the largest political donation of its kind in UK history, drawing scrutiny from regulators.
Until recently, British law did not impose any restrictions on donations to political parties if they originated from individuals registered on the UK electoral register or from UK-registered organizations, such as trade unions.
Nonetheless, an independent review into foreign financial influence in British politics concluded that the threat of foreign financial interference is “real, persistent and sustained.” The review recommended stronger investigative and criminal tools to combat interference by foreign states.
