Farage criticised over investment in bitcoin business run by failed Chancellor

Martin Shipton

A former Labour MP has lambasted Reform UK leader Nigel Farage for investing more than £200,000 in a cryptocurrency business chaired by a Conservative ex-Chancellor.

Gwynoro Jones, the MP for Carmarthen from 1970 to 1974, posted a message to social media stating: “Reading that the ‘man of the people’ #NigelFarage has invested £215.000 in a Bitcoin business led by former Tory chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, hoping that the UK will become a ‘global hub’ for cryptocurrencies.

“Mr Farage has acquired 4.3 million shares through his investment vehicle Thorn In The Side Ltd at a price of 5p per share, amounting to a 6.3% stake.

“With the Senedd election looming, I wonder how many working class and underprivileged people across Wales will follow his example!”

A report in the Guardian confirmed that Farage had made such an investment in Kwarteng’s firm Stack BTC, and that he was delighted to have “become an investor in Stack” and “lend my support to the team”.

He added: “I have long been one of the UK’s few political advocates for bitcoin, recognising the role digital currencies will play in the future of business and finance. I believe that we can and should be a major global hub for the crypto industry.”

Reform, which has received £12m in political donations from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, last year became the first main party in the UK to accept donations through bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Farage has also said he would allow people to pay their taxes with crypto and would set up a sovereign wealth fund of digital currency assets if he gained power.

Kwarteng is best known for his disastrous 2022 mini-budget with Liz Truss. He announced he had become executive chair of Stack BTC in October 2025, although Companies House records show he only became a director of the company in January 2026.. He and his wife together own 5.4% of the company. Farage’s stake now stands at 6.3%.

“Nigel’s unwavering support for British business and belief that bitcoin is set to rapidly expand its role in finance is perfectly aligned with the company’s ethos and business plans,” said Kwarteng in a statement.

Stack BTC, which is listed on London’s small-cap stock exchange Aquis, says its strategy is to accumulate bitcoin while buying businesses whose profits are reinvested in the cryptocurrency.

The company now owns 21 bitcoins worth just over £1m. Stack is valued at £6.45m and its shares jumped 67% after Farage’s involvement in the company was confirmed.

However, it is still trading about 18% below the level before it told investors in November that the crypto company would focus on bitcoin.

‘Brand ambassador’

The company’s biggest investor is Paul Withers, who is also the co-founder of the precious metals trader Direct Bullion, which has previously paid Farage £135,000 for four hours work per month over a three-month period as a “brand ambassador”.

Farage made his investment in Stack BTC through his media company, Thorn In The Side Ltd. It had £3.1m on the books as of 31 May 2025, according to the latest accounts filed at Companies House.

While crypto advocates have long advocated bitcoin as a “digital gold”, it has struggled this year against uncertainty around US trade tariffs imposed by Donald Trump and geopolitical tensions. Its value has fallen by 23% this year to $67,652 (£50,739).

Trump has used the Oval Office to expand crypto-friendly regulations in the US. Farage travelled to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence last week, but did not meet the US president, the Financial Times reported.

In May 2025 Farage announced that Reform UK would become the first British political party to accept donations in the form of bitcoin.

He also told a cryptocurrency conference in Las Vegas that he would pass a “Crypto Assets and Digital Finance Bill” if he was elected Prime Minister.

“Let’s recognise that crypto, Bitcoin, digital assets are here to stay”, he said, telling the audience Reform would launch a “crypto revolution” in the UK.

Regulate

In February 2026, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she would regulate the asset like traditional finance companies to make the UK a “world leader” amid concern from MPs over cryptocurrencies’ volatility for owners. Farage’s draft bill proposes several changes to the treatment of crypto in the UK, such as cutting capital gains taxes on crypto assets to 10%, from the current maximum of 24%, as well as instating a “Bitcoin digital reserve” at the Bank of England.

“We will campaign for this and we will put it in place at the next general election”, he told the applauding crowd.

In 2023, MPs in a Treasury Select Committee urged the government to regulate cryptocurrency as it does gambling, saying that the assets risked customers losing their entire investment, as gambling does.

But during a fireside chat at the conference, Farage praised the embrace of digital assets in the US as “nothing short of fantastic”, saying he wanted to make London “one of the major trading centres of the world”.

This admiration comes as US President Donald Trump faces accusations of corruption from protesters and Democratic politicians over his hosting of top buyers of the cryptocurrency that bears his name at a gala dinner.