How a £2m bitcoin order made Nigel Farage the political face of UK crypto | Nigel Farage

A thumping electronic beat provides the soundtrack to the video as Nigel Farage appears in front of a series of screens.

At first glance, this could be another one of the Reform UK leader’s “second jobs” – whether it’s promoting gold as a pension fund or recording Cameo videos. And in a way it is: Farage is promoting a £2 million purchase of cryptocurrency by Stack BTC, a company in which he has invested £215,000.

“We’re about to place our Bitcoin order,” Farage says with a smile, drawing on the communication skills he acquired as a politician and UK News presenter.

After pressing a button, he shrugs theatrically as a trumpet signals “buy” and the clip shows him standing on a rooftop with former Tory chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, best known for the disastrous 2022 mini-budget in the Liz Truss government.

The promotional video, filmed last week at the London offices of online digital currency wallet Blockchain.com and released on the morning the Reform UK leader held his last weekly press conference, has drawn new attention to Farage’s relationship with Stack BTC. The crypto business is headed by Kwarteng, who previously described the currency as “complete nonsense” but has since undergone something of a transformation.

The job offer is an unusual one. It is a “Bitcoin treasury company” and describes its strategy as “being an exchange-traded investment vehicle focused primarily on Bitcoin.”

Simply put, it exists to accumulate digital currency. When the Bitcoin price rises, the share price is generally expected to follow suit; When the price falls, the share price also falls.

That’s why investors like Farage get profits on paper when bitcoin performs well, without buying the currency outright. And Kwarteng, Farage and others interested in Stack are encouraged to see Bitcoin performing well and there is much less reason to notice any downside.

Hours after Stack posted the video, the Liberal Democrats asked the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to investigate whether Farage’s promotion of cryptocurrencies amounted to an attempt to abuse the market.

“No politician should use their platform to potentially enrich themselves or certain vested interests,” wrote Daisy Cooper, the party’s deputy leader, noting Reform’s history of campaigning for policies that would expand the use of cryptocurrency.

Farage or his party have previously called for deregulation and made a proposal. new “bitcoin reserve fund” and HMRC being forced to accept crypto as tax payment. Cooper also highlighted that the £9 million donation Reform received last year from Christopher Harborne, an investor in cryptocurrency company Tether, was the largest donation of its kind in UK history.

It wasn’t just the usual centrist and left-leaning suspects who expressed concerns about Farage’s connection to Stack.

Fraser Nelson, former editor of the Spectator I told you about this last month Calling it a “scandal hiding in plain sight”, he added that most of the politicians had sold shares to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. He also said that if investors conclude that Farage is close to No 10 and believe his party will support crypto, “the rise becomes self-fulfilling. The investment is not just a bet on bitcoin, but on political power itself.”

Nelson confronted Kwarteng on Times Radio on Monday, claiming Farage had bought shares to make a personal profit and that the company had given him a bonus deal that could have paid him millions. This was denied by Stack, who said Farage had invested on the same terms as all other shareholders.

The former Tory MP burst into laughter as he insisted there was no guarantee he or Farage would make “loads of money”.

“This is a $2 trillion market, the bitcoin market. The idea that Farage can influence that is ridiculous,” the former MP said, adding that he was confident the Reform leader would blindly hedge his shares, sell or recuse himself from crypto-related decisions if he entered government.

Kwarteng said buying shares instead of Bitcoin directly meant that Farage was being maximally transparent. Regarding the reform leader’s aims, Kwarteng noted: “Anyone who buys shares intends to make some kind of money from them.”

Some may ask why Farage is prepared to support a brand launch alongside a former politician associated with economic disaster. Whatever his reasons, he seems to be winning what did he say Having previously complained that he was “weak”, he started to receive “good money” after his years in politics.

In fact, his investment in Stack appears to have benefited his own profile. The share price of a relatively small company quadrupled at one point after taking a 6.3% stake in March; While the price has fallen, the shares are still worth almost twice what Farage paid for them. It has since purchased additional shares worth £60,650 at a higher price. On paper, the total value of his shares appears to have increased by more than £200,000.

Stack, which is listed on the UK’s “challenger” exchange Aquis, is one of several Bitcoin companies that are building a portfolio and moving excess cash into the digital currency. It was co-founded by Paul Withers, owner of Direct Bullion, and has already paid Farage £226,200 for his promotional work as the gold company’s brand ambassador.

At another level, there is a constituency of wealthy crypto enthusiasts who reward Reform for its role as the foremost cheerleader for the currency in British politics.

Alongside Harborne is British billionaire Ben Delo, who said last week he had given £4 million to Reform since the start of the year, before the government’s cap on donations to political parties by British citizens living abroad came into force.

Farage has been developing a relationship with the crypto community for some time; many here share the distinctive libertarian ethos of key Reformation figures such as Zia Yusuf and Richard Tice.

In Stack’s case, the company did not hesitate to wade into political quagmire. He told broadcaster and activist Narinder Kaur on

Farage attended various crypto conferences last year, but at times didn’t quite put his foot down in front of various young audiences. At first, jokes about chancellor Rachel Reeves (“Rachel from the reports”) and Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, which might have provoked laughter at a Reform rally, fell flat.

However, the upgrade of Bitcoin by Farage has been welcomed by prominent figures, including Andrew Webley, founder and CEO of Smarter Web, a bitcoin treasury and digital services company that is much larger than Stack BTC.

“I’m not a political person, but having a prime minister who takes Bitcoin seriously is definitely a good thing for the industry,” said Webley, whose company is traded on the London Stock Exchange.

“If I walk down a street in, say, London, people won’t recognize me. That’s a different story for Nigel Farage. Whatever you think of him, he gets people talking about Bitcoin. It’s about normalizing things, starting a conversation and educating people.”

Webley, who invited Farage and other politicians to the “bitcoin treasury conference” his company will host in his hometown of Bristol in May, added: “It has been the best-performing asset in the world for the last 20 years, so even if they don’t invest every penny of it, they should have some exposure to it.”

At the same time, it’s easy for the Bitcoin community to feel uneasy about the involvement of Britain’s most polarizing frontline politician. “It’s not exactly helpful in some ways,” one said.

A spokesman for Farage described the Stack event as a “photo call”, adding: “Mr Farage is embracing the 21st century. [£2m of] Cryptocurrency on behalf of Stack, not personally.” They added that Farage would do “the appropriate thing” with Stack shares if he enters government.

As for donations, Reform’s website says it does not accept anonymous donations and that donations over £500 are checked. A spokesman for Reform told the BBC that “all parties need donations to run campaigns” and that “Labor taking money from unions is just one example”.