Reform UK has triggered a political storm after securing a record-breaking £9 million donation from cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne, a revelation first highlighted in reporting by Bloomberg. The unprecedented sum — the largest ever given to a British political party by a living donor — has fueled concerns that the UK may be drifting toward the high-spending, donor-driven political culture seen in the United States.

Harborne, an early Bitcoin investor with a 12% stake in the crypto exchange Bitfinex, injected the funds into Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK just as the party seeks to expand its policy platform ahead of the next general election, expected by 2029. The crypto industry has…