Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice lobbied the Bank of England over cryptocurrency rules after the party received a £9m donation from a billionaire investor in the industry, The i Paper can reveal.

Letters released by the Bank show Tice asked officials for “light touch” regulation on digital currencies, arguing that Britain faced losing financial business to America.

Previously private files show he intervened in November last year, four months after the party received a £9m donation from cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne.

At the time, it was the single largest donation to a political party from a living donor. Then, in September this year, Harborne and another crypto billionaire, Ben Delo, each donated £36m to Reform.

Reform leader Nigel Farage received a separate £5m payment from Harborne in April 2024, which he has said was a personal gift, arguing it would fund his private security. Farage has also said it was a reward for Brexit. Parliament’s standards commissioner is currently investigating whether he should have declared the money.

The letters from Tice are likely to raise fresh questions about the relationship between Reform’s financial backers, and the party’s position on cryptocurrency regulation.

Reform’s political opponents argue that such large political donations allow wealthy individuals to buy undue influence in politics.

There is no suggestion that Harborne asked Tice to write to the Bank of England or that the Reform deputy leader was acting on his behalf.

Tice says that his intervention is consistent with a longstanding position in support of financial deregulation.

Harborne owns a reported 12 per cent stake in Tether, the company behind the stablecoin USDT, a cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value. Britain already has a legal framework for stablecoins, although detailed rules are still being developed.

Letters reveal Tice lobbied Bank against strict crypto rules

In the letters seen by The i Paper, Tice wrote to Sam Woods, chief executive of the Bank’s Prudential Regulation Authority, on 27 November last year raising concerns that Britain was falling behind other countries in creating an attractive market for stablecoins.

Tice argued the US was already pushing ahead with new legislation – and a rapidly growing market.

“It will not have escaped your attention that in the meantime the US has already passed the GENIUS Act and that US dollar-backed stablecoin issuance is now over $250bn,” he wrote.

He added: “With London the largest foreign exchange market in the world, it is surprising that we are not leading global thinking in this area.”

Tice, who is also the party’s spokesman for business, trade and energy policy, pressed the Bank to rethink the rules on stablecoins, to ensure regulation does not discourage investment.

Beyond cryptocurrency rules, Tice was pressing the Bank more widely to make the UK’s financial sector more globally competitive and attract investment, with less regulation.

He also talked up Reform’s political prospects at the time, saying: “You will note that based on current opinion polls, Reform UK is set to form the next government.”

The Bank was given independence from the UK government in 1997.

The correspondence also shows that Tice and Farage had a private meeting with the Bank’s governor, Andrew Bailey in September 2025. Their talks included a discussion on cryptocurrencies, Bailey and Farage said afterwards.

Tice wrote again to Woods and Sarah Breeden, the Bank’s deputy governor for financial stability, on 17 December 2025, continuing his calls for a looser approach to crypto regulation. In a letter to Breeden, he said: “A light touch regulatory framework that upholds financial stability while actively encouraging competitiveness is essential if the UK is to retain leadership in this field.”

In response, the Bank said it supported stablecoins and that it was already developing a regime designed to let the sector grow.

Tice ‘shouting from the rooftops to deregulate the financial sector’

The private letters were released after Conservative chairman Kevin Hollinrake asked the Treasury about Reform’s representations to the Bank on cryptocurrency policy.

Tice told The i Paper: “I have been actively shouting from the rooftops to deregulate the financial sector, which used to be an innovator, but has seen an 80 per cent collapse in new stock market listings in recent years.

“The Bank of England and FCA, while making some progress, need to go further and faster in this regard.

“Within this context, stablecoins is a small piece of our suggestions to help growth and innovation.”

Pro-crypto policies were previously a central pillar of Reform’s economic plans. Last year, Farage said the party would launch a “crypto revolution” in Britain, while Tice argued that the UK should embrace cryptocurrency, saying: “Let’s make it easy, cheap, transparent, tax attractive.”

Reform has been less vocal on the issue in recent months, amid criticism from political opponents over its donations from cryptocurrency billionaires.

Reform has denied that its donors expect anything in return for their contributions.

“You know what Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne want? Nothing,” Farage said in defence of the £72m donations in September.

Farage could face another by-election in his Clacton constituency if he’s found to have broken rules by not declaring the earlier £5m gift from Harborne. He denies any wrongdoing.

Harborne has said he gave the money out of admiration for Farage and was not expecting anything in return. Harborne was approached for comment.

Under Rishi Sunak, the Conservatives championed making the UK a “global cryptoasset technology hub”, but current leader Kemi Badenoch has not set out detailed policies on cryptocurrencies.

While supportive of crypto innovation and the Bank of England’s work on developing a digital pound, Labour has taken a cautious approach to regulation.

New laws for cryptocurrency businesses will come into force in 2027. The Government is seeking to balance protecting consumers and encouraging investment, and plans to make it easier for certain stablecoin payment businesses to operate.

What are stablecoins?

Stablecoins are mainly used for buying or selling crypto assets or making payments across a country’s border.

Most stablecoins are linked to a traditional currency, such as the US dollar, with each digital coin backed by reserves. In theory, a person holding one dollar-backed stablecoin should be able to exchange it for $1.

Supporters argue stablecoins could make digital payments faster and cheaper, but critics warn of risks if the company issuing them does not hold sufficient reserves or large numbers of customers try to cash them in at the same time.