Reform UK’s Nigel Farage offers himself as crypto deregulation champion

Nigel Farage took to the stage at DAS London earlier today to make a promise not unlike the one that Donald Trump made in 2024 before he raced to the White House with the support of crypto bros. 

Farage is the leader of Reform UK, a right-wing, populist party famous for its focus on immigration, Brexit, and economic deregulation, and he has been positioning himself as a vocal advocate for the cryptocurrency industry.  

Farage makes rallying call for crypto industry 

Farage has reportedly promised that, should his party enter government, it would oversee a process of deregulation in the country’s crypto space with its “Cryptoassets and Digital Finance Bill.”

As far as he is concerned, the UK financial service sector is anemic while it has been under the management of the Conservative and Labour Parties. He attributes the decline to neglect from both the previous government and its successor. 

“I want to regenerate it,” he told the audience. “I want to make London back to being a great trading center and that includes [the crypto] space.” 

Reform UK’s draft bill proposes the reduction of capital gains tax on crypto to 10%, the establishment of a Bitcoin reserve at the Bank of England, and setting rules against account closures based on lawful digital-asset activity.

Farage believes that it is crucial that the tax burden is resolved to prevent the continuation of the “flight of capital, the flight of brains” to other countries. 

The politician’s pledges are coming at a time when the major UK political parties are tussling over where the country’s economy should go, even as they struggle with declining growth and deteriorating government finances. 

What Farage is doing, engaging the UK crypto industry, is similar to what Trump did in the US in 2024. That move swayed the sector to vote and also lobby for him. 

According to recent polls, the Reform Party is performing above the other parties, including the incumbent Labour Party. 

Farage was introduced as a “UK presidential candidate” in May at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, where he unveiled Reform’s draft Crypto Assets and Digital Finance Bill and first promised a “crypto revolution” to make London a “major trading center.” 

He explicitly praised the U.S. under Donald Trump as “fantastic” and lamented the UK’s lag, vowing to change things upon entry into the office.

The state of the UK’s regulatory landscape for crypto 

Farage’s statements are also coming as the regulatory landscape for crypto in the UK is undergoing changes. 

Late last month, UK and U.S. officials revealed the formation of a new collaborative task force intended partially to harmonize crypto rules and improve links between capital markets to boost growth and competitiveness.

It will include representatives from UK and U.S. regulators responsible for capital markets and digital assets, and they are expected to report back within 180 days to the UK and U.S. finance ministries.

Meanwhile, in the stablecoin sector, the Bank of England chief Andrew Bailey has been pushing for major stablecoins to be closely regulated in the country. 

According to him, “widely used UK stablecoins should have access to accounts at the BoE in order to reinforce their status as money.”