Nigel Farage is set to headline at a right-wing event backed by a Bitcoin lobby group, amid a political furore over his ties to crypto investors.

The Reform UK leader will be the star speaker at the inaugural CPAC Great Britain conference next week at the InterContinental O2 hotel in London.

Farage resigned as an MP this week while being investigated by Parliament’s standards commissioner over a £5 million undeclared “gift” from cryptocurrency billionaire and Reform donor Christopher Harborne, which has been reported to the National Crime Agency. Farage has denied any wrongdoing.

His resignation will trigger a by-election in Clacton in which he plans to stand for re-election. DeSmog revealed earlier this week that Farage has mentioned the constituency only six times in the House of Commons since becoming its MP in July 2024.

The CPAC GB event — where VIP tickets range from £5,000 to £10,000 — is a franchise of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), founded in the United States, which is strongly supportive of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The UK branch is chaired by former Conservative prime minister Liz Truss, who resigned after less than two months in office in 2022 after introducing a “mini budget” that caused economic chaos.

In May, CPAC GB announced a “strategic partnership” with Bitcoin Collective, described as “the leading voice for Bitcoin adoption across British business and society”. The announcement added that the Bitcoin Collective will be the “official partner” of the conference. It’s not clear if the group has provided funding for the event.

The press release said that CPAC GB and the Bitcoin Collective “will work to advance pro-Bitcoin policies”, including advocating for less regulation of the crypto sector.

The partnership will also allow the Bitcoin Collective to “host high-profile panels and fireside chats at CPAC GB 2026 featuring Bitcoin entrepreneurs, policymakers and thought leaders”.

Farage has lobbied against regulation of the crypto industry, promising a UK “crypto revolution” if he becomes prime minister, and has shares in digital treasury company Stack BTC. Farage has received substantial gifts from crypto investors, while his party is heavily funded by the sector.

Harborne, Reform’s biggest donor, has given £25.2 million to the party since its creation in 2019, while crypto billionaire Ben Delo donated £4 million in the first quarter of this year.

“We’ve seen significant and very well-resourced efforts from crypto lobbying groups to try and bolster their presence in UK politics and shape a friendlier regulatory regime,” said Tim Picton of Spotlight on Corruption.

“This is yet another example of an attempt to build coalitions between the UK and U.S. interests on an aligned approach to crypto, but this time on the very fringes of this space, where speakers are due to push very radical narratives that would reshape the financial system in Bitcoin’s favour, with potential to cause huge harm to consumers and society as a whole”.

In March, the UK government imposed a temporary ban on crypto donations to political parties, following the publication of the Rycroft Review into foreign threats to UK democracy.

Truss, whose September 2022 mini-budget sunk the value of the pound, hailed the Bitcoin Collective partnership by claiming that “CPAC Great Britain exists to defend the principles that made Britain great such as individual liberty and sound money”, adding: “Bitcoin represents the ultimate expression of those values.”

Truss spoke at a Bitcoin Collective event titled ‘Bitcoin: A Competitive Advantage’ in November.

Bitcoin Collective founder Jordan Walker added: “We are excited to bring the UK Bitcoin Business Network and our growing community to CPAC GB to show policymakers and entrepreneurs alike how Bitcoin can rebuild Britain’s economic strength.”

Bitcoin Collective, CPAC Great Britain, and Reform UK were contacted for comment.

CPAC Great Britain

Other speakers at the CPAC GB event include Reform MP Suella Braverman, Reform London mayoral candidate Laila Cunningham, and Reform parliamentary candidate Matthew Goodwin, alongside Tory shadow trade secretary Andrew Griffith, Tory peer Toby Young, and former Tory minister and GB News host Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Farage previously indicated that he wouldn’t be attending the event – after Reform sources told The Guardian that he would be “steering well clear” – only to U-turn in early June by announcing that he would be its keynote speaker. The Guardian also previously reported that Rees-Mogg had “no interest in making an appearance”.

They will be speaking alongside Lucy Connolly, who was jailed for inciting racial hatred against asylum seekers during far-right riots in 2024, former TalkTV host Mike Graham, Alan Miller, a businessman who founded the Together Declaration, which has spread falsehoods about the Covid-19 vaccine, and Jack Posobiec, a right-wing U.S. influencer notorious for spreading the “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory.

Farage’s Crypto Connections

Farage’s “gift” from Harborne, who runs the jet fuel company AML Global, is one of several ties between the Reform leader and the crypto industry.

Last week, the Sunday Times revealed that Farage had received but not disclosed gifts from George Cottrell, a long-time ally and advisor who was convicted of wire fraud in the U.S. in 2017. Cottrell is involved with Tether.bet, an offshore digital currency gambling company.

Reform donor Ben Delo, who has given £4 million to the party, is also the co-founder of BitMEX, a crypto trading company. Delo pleaded guilty to violating the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act in 2022 and was later pardoned by President Trump.

Farage has his own investments in crypto. He has invested £215,000 in Stack BTC, a Bitcoin treasury company chaired by former Tory chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, who served under Liz Truss. Farage also appeared in a promotional video for the company, which has reportedly lost 15 percent of its asset value since its launch in March.

As revealed by DeSmog, Farage has received more than £2 million in earnings and gifts since becoming the MP for Clacton in July 2024 – with almost £700,000 coming from overseas sources. Reform is also heavily backed by individuals with fossil fuel interests.

President Trump, Farage’s ally, has been a champion of the crypto industry, and has made $1.4 billion from various crypto ventures since his re-election in November 2024.

This week, Trump took credit for investigations into crypto industry wrongdoing being ditched, saying: “Every time I see a crypto guy where they dropped an investigation, I said: ‘You’re lucky I’m president’.”

Farage met with Trump last week in Washington DC to mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

A version of this article was published by the New World.