Fierce Debate: Labour Wants to Ban Political Donations via Crypto, Crypto UK Responds
A new controversy is erupting in the UK as Pat McFadden, a member of the Labour party, proposes banning political donations made with cryptocurrency, citing concerns over dark money, anonymity, or foreign influence. This move comes just two months after Nigel Farage's Reform UK party became the first party in the UK to accept donations in crypto. #England
Ian Taylor, an advisor to Crypto UK, immediately countered that this is clearly a "political blow" aimed at curbing the momentum of Reform UK. Taylor stated: "If parties want transparency, they just need to ask donors to verify their identity (KYC) – this is entirely feasible with blockchain technology."
Reform UK stated that they have now implemented a KYC process for all donations over £500 and are using tools like Chainalysis and Elliptic to check for illegal transactions. Any inappropriate donations will be refunded.
Nevertheless, some politicians remain concerned that cryptocurrency could pave the way for foreign interference, similar to the controversy in the US regarding the meme coin linked to President $TRUMP being investigated.
In response, Crypto UK argued that the amount of donations made in crypto is currently almost zero, and Labour's demand for a ban is merely a "preemptive strike" against an opponent as Reform UK is gaining support.
The incident exposes deep divisions in how the UK approaches crypto – a transparent tool, yet still faced with political skepticism.