BBC: Secretive crypto firm backed by Farage donor bought vast UK government debt

financeJul 14, 202615533

Tether, the El Salvador based company that issues the USDT stablecoin, was the single biggest buyer of gold last year according to European Central Bank data and says it holds about $135 billion of US government debt, more than South Korea. Tether stores some reserves in a Swiss former nuclear bunker, its boss has said, and the company employs roughly 200 people. One of Tether's significant shareholders is Christopher Harborne, who gave Nigel Farage's Reform party £9 million in August, £3 million in October and a further £3 million in January, and who previously gave Farage a £5 million personal gift that has been subject to parliamentary investigation. Farage lobbied Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey in September about stablecoin regulation and has publicly urged the UK to embrace cryptocurrencies, telling LBC that Tether was about to be valued at $500 billion. Bailey said Farage made his views very clear but that the intervention did not change the Bank's policy and that he could spot and discount lobbying. The donations and the timing of Farage's meeting with Bailey have prompted questions about whether regulatory discussions could benefit Tether or its shareholders, and they have fed parliamentary scrutiny of the undeclared personal gift and the broader links between Reform and crypto interests.

Prem Sikka

@premnsikka.bsky.social

Secretive $500bn El Salvador based crypto firm backed by Farage's biggest donor. Its biggest Thailand based shareholder gave £9m in cash to Farage's Reform party. Farage lobbied Bank of England over crypto regulation. Foreign money shaping UK politics.

2101h ago

Poodle (Scottish Independence 4 me) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇮🇪🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇨🇦1

That's what used to be called bribes and people were jailed for bribery.

Dan Cole1

Farage is pay to play

Nualaatpeace1

Don't allow Farage to be a baby Trump. Put him squarely in his place. Trump epitomises a corrupt justice dept. He bought it.

Adrian Littlejohn

@yorksfella59.bsky.social

Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice has insisted a donor at the heart of the row comes from a "very successful aristocratic family". Unbelievably, that 'defence' is a direct quote. Because Clacton is knee deep in aristocrats, eh? 🤔 Get in the Bin, Nigel 🤣👍 www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

96Yesterday

Pat Traynor11

Aren't all aristocratic families "very successful " by definition? Or by birthright? Or by privilege? Isn't that the whole point of the aristocracy? I mean, it's not like they have to work at it, or build up their heritage.... Joke country Let's leave. Independence for Scotland!

Sandra.4

Mmmm, that quote says to me, he's a rich aristocratic, so know your place pleb, he can do what he wants.

rob3

"very successful aristocratic family" = the people presumably

Max2

The Anti-Establishment Party strikes again.

Jeff2

Lord Lucan was from aristocratic blood as well.

Pete FBPE wake up workers, Farage is not your mate.2

Did he forget to add that it just happened to be a wealthy aristocratic family that definitely isn't part of the establishment.

Quoting this

@JordanNathan813

The anti-establishment party funded by aristocrats. What a fvcking muppet admitting they are the establishment ffs

pmchoan.bsky.social3

Odd, that, given that #Farage claims to be the anti-establishment candidate.

Cat Neilan

@catneilan.bsky.social

"Posh" George Cottrell has lost $1m in the last year, betting on the crypto-based prediction market Polymarket Cottrell has been in the spotlight over his relationship with Nigel Farage, and questions about financial support for the man he reportedly calls “Daddy” observer.co.uk/news/politic...

51Yesterday

pygmyshrew.bsky.social5

2018 Bloomberg reported on how Farage was fronting a gambling syndicate. #ReformPlc is backed by dodgy bookies, corrupt pollsters, unethical city-traders, and right-wing cryptoCûnts who want even greater personal returns while they bat against the UK. #RefuseReform No paywall-> archive.ph/DVBup

Quoting this

Mark McGeoghegan12

Polymarket have legitimately been advertising their site as future-predicting (at least to US investors), when their inputs come largely from 'whales' like Posh George.

Tim Picton11

I did find it interesting how Cottrell’s otherwise comprehensive co-authored book on ‘How to Launder Money’ failed to cover the crypto gambling industry…

Ian3

I’m beginning to wonder if the Reform strategy of Farage and the by election is to get a lot of dirty laundry out now ahead of a GE. If he survives this then their argument will become ‘same old, you’ve done this before and voters decided’. bsky.app/profile/catn...

Daily Herald #FBPE #NAFO 🇬🇧🇺🇦🇬🇱

@dailyherald.bsky.social

EXCL by Emanuele Midolo ft me Venetia Menzies George Greenwood The criminal who funded Nigel Farage made undisclosed donations to Reform in apparent breach of electoral law George Cottrell lawyers at Carter Ruck refuse to say when he became permissible donor www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

41Yesterday

fife4europe #FBPE #RejoinEU

@fife4europe.bsky.social

Letting a secretive offshore crypto giant like Tether buy back-door influence in British politics through multi-million-pound donor operations is a massive danger. We must stop allowing politicians to flog our regulatory system to shadowy digital asset firms looking for personal favours. 🛑📉👇

313h ago

Andy Brown

@andybrown1951.bsky.social

How many people get gifted £5million from friends for no reason other than deep admiration? How many politicians could be bought for that sum and persuaded to speak loud and often about the supposed benefits of crypto? Farage is just a bought and paid for politician www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

431h ago

Alan Lester

@alanlester.bsky.social

The BBC couldn’t be any clearer: Farage took huge sums of money to push the interests of crypto investors. By far the most corrupt politician in modern British history. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

19Just now

Dr Prit Buttar3

‘By far’ the most corrupt? I think a mop haired former Tory PM might be a candidate for that.

Chris Nimmo1

Farage should be nowhere near power in the U.K. His activities are very near to illegal ( if not actually illegal ? ).

Kriszta Satori

@fulelo.bsky.social

#BBCNews - The secretive crypto firm backed by Farage's biggest donor www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... #tether

133h ago

Rev Peter W Nimmo

@peternimmo.bsky.social

Reform UK Ltd and its cryptocurrency donations: "Never before has a table-topping political party been so dependent on donors connected to a narrow sector, which is in turn demonstrably extremely sensitive to live regulatory decisions" www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

41h ago

kingo 🔜 furrydelphia

@whitedogth.ing

i so badly want to see count binface genuinely fight or at least lose by small margin to farage. burnham endorsed him and a top labour donor wants to fund his race.

616h ago

Mike D London

@mikedlondon.bsky.social

Mention of kebabs reminds me of that time there was a terrible mix up when Farage thought he was going to meet a donor...

521h ago

Antikrish (UTFR MUFC) 🇾🇪

@antikrish.bsky.social

Terrifying prospect - "If there is an early election in the next year, won by Reform, it would then also choose the next governor of the Bank of England, before the expiry of Bailey's term in 2028." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

42h ago

Nolan Principles Matter. End the #GazaGenocide💔💙

@philildo.bsky.social

Am I right in thinking that crypto is just a made up 'currency'? No wonder Faridge's backers are buying gold. I'm totally ignorant of cryptocurrency, but traders seem to want a whole lot of control in international finances...🤔 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

43h ago

Neil Goodrich

@ngoodrichhsg.bsky.social

What is more likely, a donation of millions of pounds to a national political figure out of the kindness of one's heart, or in the expectation (implicit or otherwise) for a favour returned? The suspension of disbelief needed for it to be the former is immense. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

33h ago

Cllr Owen Burbidge 🔶

@oburbidge.bsky.social

Why Kazakhstan one may ask? I wonder if there is any link to this billionaire…I’d be curious whether said donor was involved in telecoms. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

323h ago

1 source

bbc.co.ukNigel Farage: The secretive crypto firm backed by Reform's biggest donor

BBC: Secretive crypto firm backed by Farage donor bought vast UK government debtfinance Brent crude tops $85 a barrel, surges after US‑Iran strikes and blockade threatfinance

BBC: Secretive crypto firm backed by Farage donor bought vast UK government debt

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