Reform UK could make Labour think twice about bitcoin reserve
Reform UK’s Cryptoassets and Digital Finance Bill has been published today, hours after the party’s leader, Nigel Farage, promised a bitcoin (BTC) reserve and lax crypto taxes in a Donald Trump-style pitch at Bitcoin 2025.
The bill outlines Reform’s plans to allow the use of crypto to settle taxes, and a 90-day deadline for government studies on crypto (subject to extension).
This is on top of a crypto capital gains tax reduction to 10%, the introduction of a UK bitcoin reserve, and rules that would bar banks from restricting services based on crypto transactions. Again, these points were all touched on by Farage during Bitcoin 2025.
Read more: Nigel Farage said shady alleged crypto ATM owner is ‘like a son to me’
During his spot at the year’s biggest Bitcoin event, the right-wing leader praised Trump and his approach to crypto, and claimed he’s going to bring crypto in “from the cold.”
He also called Central Bank Digital Currencies the “ultimate form of tyranny” and said that if he wins, there’ll be a CBDC “over my dead body.”
Reform UK also announced it will accept BTC and other cryptocurrencies as political donations. However, tax experts have already pointed out that this might raise some issues if you donate with your crypto gains.
Labour’s stance on crypto has involved less grandstanding in comparison. The UK treasury told Protos that it had no plans to launch a bitcoin reserve due to the cryptocurrency’s volatility. The Treasury’s economic secretary reiterated that it has no plans to follow the US approach to Bitcoin.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority recently proposed plans to loosen up on UK crypto firms issuing stablecoins. Rachel Reeves also announced in April that draft legislation will give crypto firms “new, clear rules,” and that a US partnership will allow a “transatlantic sandbox for digital securities.”
Reform UK “living rent-free” inside Labour’s head
Reform’s new approach might push Labour further, however. Indeed, the government shifted its approach to migration to be more in line with Reform’s right-wing rhetoric following the party’s sweeping council election success in May this year.
The home office now frequently boasts about deportations and police crackdowns, and earlier this month, Prime Minister Keir Starmer preached about “taking back control of our borders.” He also described the UK as an “island of strangers” in comments that have been compared to Enoch Powell’s highly controversial “rivers of blood” speech.
Read more: Reform UK candidate tied to ‘crypto Ponzi’ BuddyX fails in election bid
Protos has reached out to Labour for comment and will update this piece should we hear back.
Got a tip? Send us an email securely via Protos Leaks. For more informed news, follow us on X, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.