Reform UK leader Nigel Farage reportedly accepted gifts that he did not publicly disclose from a crypto entrepreneur convicted of fraud in the US, according to The Sunday Times.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The news outlet reported<\/a> on Saturday that Farage was gifted staff, security, transport and accommodation by George Cottrell, an aristocrat involved in an offshore crypto casino who has been a close adviser to Farage for more than 10 years.<\/p>\n Farage said<\/a> in a statement on Sunday that he \u201cfollowed the rules\u201d over the gifts from Cottrell, which he received before he was elected a member of parliament in July 2024, and called The Times\u2019 report a \u201chit job.\u201d<\/p>\n It is the second time Farage has faced reports of undeclared gifts from wealthy figures tied to crypto, an industry he has advocated for while in parliament that is facing increasing regulatory scrutiny<\/a>, with the Treasury having temporarily banned political donations<\/a> made in cryptocurrencies in March.<\/p>\n A parliamentary standards watchdog opened an inquiry<\/a> in May over whether Farage failed to declare a 5 million British pounds ($6.7 million) gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, who partly owns stablecoin giant Tether.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Nigel Farage appears at the Bitcoin 2025 conference holding his party\u2019s draft crypto<\/em> legislation. Source:<\/em> Gage Skidmore<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Farage has argued he does not need to declare Harborne\u2019s gift, as it was given to him to pay for personal security before he was an MP.<\/p>\n The Sunday Times reported that Cottrell, who is involved in a gambling site called Tether.bet that uses the Tether (USDt) stablecoin, provided Farage with drivers and security made up primarily of former soldiers.<\/p>\n Cottrell also reportedly recruited and paid for three staff members to help with the Reform leader\u2019s social media and, since the election, has let Farage use a rented five-story house near Buckingham Palace. A Reform source told The Times that Farage almost always stayed at his own home and did not routinely use the property.<\/p>\n Farage registered only one benefit from Cottrell upon entering Parliament, a benefit of less than 9,300 British pounds ($12,400) for travel, security and accommodation to attend an event in Belgium.<\/p>\n In 2016, Cottrell was arrested and charged in the US with 21 offenses for his role in a money laundering plot. He pleaded guilty to a single wire fraud charge after a plea deal and spent eight months in prison.<\/p>\n The Times\u2019 report follows a report<\/a> in The Guardian on Friday that the standards commissioner was urged to investigate whether Farage lobbied the Bank of England to drop its digital currency plans.<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong><\/em>Crypto billionaires bankroll Nigel Farage’s pro-crypto party<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Labour MP and chair of a parliamentary anti-corruption group, Phil Brickell, reported Farage to the commissioner, saying he \u201cclaimed credit for persuading the Bank to soften its position\u201d on a central bank digital currency.<\/p>\n Brickell said that Harborne \u201cstood to benefit from opposition to a state-backed digital currency that could compete with private stablecoins.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not simply a debate about cryptocurrency. It is about whether an MP who has received millions from one individual should be lobbying for policies that could increase the value and profitability of that [Reform] donor\u2019s investments,\u201d said Brickell.<\/p>\n Farage and Reform have championed crypto, with the party publishing draft legislation last year with the goal of making the UK \u201cthe world\u2019s premier hub for cryptocurrency.\u201d<\/p>\n Reform was also the first UK political party to accept donations in Bitcoin (BTC). Farage has also proposed cutting capital gains taxes on crypto from 24% to 10% and called for the Bank of England to create a Bitcoin reserve.<\/p>\n Magazine: <\/strong><\/em>Guide to the top and emerging global crypto hubs: Mid-2026<\/strong><\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Reform UK leader Nigel Farage reportedly accepted gifts that he did not publicly disclose from a crypto entrepreneur convicted of fraud in the US, according to The Sunday Times.\u00a0 The news outlet reported on Saturday that Farage was gifted staff, security, transport and accommodation by George Cottrell, an aristocrat involved in an offshore crypto casino 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PLUG<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Reform UK leader Nigel Farage reportedly accepted gifts that he did not publicly disclose from a crypto entrepreneur convicted of fraud in the US, according to The Sunday Times.\u00a0 The news outlet reported on Saturday that Farage was gifted staff, security, transport and accommodation by George Cottrell, an aristocrat involved in an offshore crypto casino…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33554"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33556,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33554\/revisions\/33556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Cottrell\u2019s reported gifts include security, use of house<\/h2>\n
Farage reported over alleged crypto lobbying<\/h2>\n