Sir Keir Starmer‘s Labour government has banned cryptocurrency donations to UK political parties, requiring all existing crypto funds to be returned within 30 days or face criminal penalties.

The decision follows scrutiny of Nigel Farage’s Reform Party, which received a reported £3m crypto donation from Christopher Harborne. The move tightens political funding rules and removes crypto as a permitted donation method in UK elections.

On the Blockchain Bulletin, host Callum Williams said the rule is already active, meaning parties must return crypto donations immediately or risk enforcement action.

Elsewhere, blockchain adoption continues to scale. Bitpanda has launched its Vision Chain Network to support tokenised euro assets for banks and fintechs. Monument Bank has tokenised retail deposits, targeting £250m in early volumes.

In Asia, Ripple is testing its RLUSD stablecoin for cross-border payments in Singapore. Revolut has warned that slow UK stablecoin regulation risks losing fintech investment to the US and EU.

What this means

The UK has formally removed crypto from political funding, prioritising traceability and compliance. At the same time, global markets continue expanding stablecoins and tokenised finance, increasing pressure on UK regulators to keep pace.