Overview
- Seven parliamentary committee chairs, led by Liam Byrne, set out the demand in a January 12 open letter to the prime minister.
- The lawmakers say digital-asset transfers are hard to trace and could let ineligible or foreign donors circumvent transparency rules.
- Their case cites a 2022 U.S. intelligence assessment that Russia spent over $300 million, including via cryptocurrency, to influence elections worldwide.
- UK law currently permits crypto contributions under the same eligibility and disclosure rules as fiat, and only a few parties report receiving them; Reform UK has taken crypto, while a £9 million Christopher Harborne donation was made in fiat.
- Downing Street has not responded and no legislation has changed, with the call arriving ahead of a foreign funding review due by March led by Philip Rycroft, as the Electoral Commission warns oversight is technologically challenging.