Nigel Farage takes stake in Bitcoin company led by Kwasi Kwarteng

Nigel Farage has taken a stake in a Bitcoin reserve business led by Kwasi Kwarteng, as the Reform UK leader eyes the UK becoming a “global hub” for cryptocurrencies.

The MP has invested £215,000 in Stack BTC alongside Blockchain.com as part of an equity fundraise.

Mr Farage has acquired 4.3 million shares through his investment vehicle Thorn In The Side Ltd at a price of 5p per share, amounting to a 6.3% stake.

The total investment from the fundraise amounted to £260,000, the firm said.

Stack is a London-based business, listed on the UK’s challenger stock exchange Aquis, that works by building a portfolio of companies and investing the surplus cash they make into Bitcoin.

It aims to build up a Bitcoin treasury by accumulating the cryptocurrency.

Stack is headed up by executive chairman Mr Kwarteng, the politician who is well known for serving as chancellor for 38 days in 2022, having devised the disastrous mini-budget alongside the former prime minister Liz Truss.

The pound fell to a 37-year low after Mr Kwarteng announced the biggest raft of tax cuts for half a century, to be funded by more than £70 billion of increased borrowing.

He also served as Conservative MP for Spelthorne, Surrey, until 2024.

Mr Kwarteng controls a 5.4% stake in Stack together with his wife Harriet.

Mr Farage said of the investment: “I have long been one of the UK’s few political advocates for Bitcoin, recognising the role digital currencies will play in the future of business and finance.

“London and the UK has historically been the centre of world’s financial markets, and I believe that we can and should be a major global hub for the crypto industry.”

Mr Kwarteng said: “We are absolutely delighted to have Nigel Farage and Blockchain.com become strategic investors in Stack.

“Nigel’s unwavering support for British business and belief that Bitcoin is set to rapidly expand its role in finance is perfectly aligned with the company’s ethos and business plans.”

Reform UK last year pledged to cut taxes on cryptocurrencies and set up a Bitcoin reserve fund if elected, which would allow people to pay tax in Bitcoin.

Meanwhile, the Treasury recently announced legislation which will see cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin regulated in a similar way to other finance products under new UK laws coming into force in 2027.

It follows efforts to overhaul the market which has grown in popularity in recent years as an alternative investment product and a way of making payments.

The UK’s financial regulator has nonetheless warned that it is a “high risk” investment and warned people could “lose all their money” from the asset.