In December 2020, there was a new yet familiar face in the world of cryptocurrency boosters: Nigel Farage. 

These were the wilderness years for Farage. Johnson was prime minister. Brexit was done. The Brexit party was a movement looking for a new target. And Farage – according to his closest confidants at the time – needed money. 

“I’ve been studying and talking about crypto a lot more in the last few months,” he announced in a Facebook ad, surfaced by the Nerve, that was posted in December 2020 to promote his newsletter, Fortune and Freedom. The date makes it the earliest known venture by Farage into the world of cryptocurrency, but it would be far from his last. “Have you made money out of this yet?” he says, gleefully,…