Seven senior UK Labour lawmakers asked Prime Minister Keir Starmer to add a UK crypto donations ban to an elections bill expected later this month.
The MPs chair seven parliamentary committees, and they said the change would protect election funding from hidden sources.
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The request came in a letter sent on Sunday. Reports from The Observer and The Guardian said the lawmakers want the elections bill to include the ban.
The lawmakers argued that crypto donations can make political funding harder to track. They also warned that the system can be tested by overseas actors.
Liam Byrne links crypto donations to traceability risks
Liam Byrne, chair of the business and trade committee, signed the letter and backed the UK crypto donations ban. He said political funding “must be transparent, traceable and enforceable,” and he argued crypto does not meet that standard.
“Crypto can obscure the true source of funds, enable thousands of micro donations below disclosure thresholds, and expose UK politics to foreign interference,”
Byrne said. He added that the Electoral Commission has warned current technology makes these risks “exceptionally hard to manage.”
Byrne also pointed to disclosure limits as a problem. He said many small payments can stay below reporting thresholds, and that can reduce visibility.
Elections bill timing and voting age change shape the debate
The push comes ahead of local elections in May. At the same time, the government plans an elections bill expected later this month that will lower the voting age to 16, according to the reports.
However, The Guardian reported that some government officials think a UK crypto donations ban will be difficult to include.
They cited the complexity of cryptocurrency and the challenge of writing enforceable rules quickly.
Byrne argued that the UK should not wait for a scandal.
“Other democracies have already acted,”
he said.
“The UK should not wait until a scandal forces our hand.”
He also said the proposal does not target the wider sector.
“This is not about opposing innovation,”
Byrne said.
“It is about protecting democracy with rules that work in the real world.”
Reform UK crypto donations plan draws attention
A UK crypto donations ban could affect Reform UK, which said in May it would become the first UK political party to accept crypto donations. Party leader Nigel Farage announced the shift as part of a pro crypto policy stance.
That stance included advocating for a Bitcoin reserve. Reform UK’s website also says it does not allow anonymous donations in crypto.
The debate gained more attention after Reform received a record 9 million British pounds donation, about $12 million, in cash in December. The donor was early crypto investor Christopher Harborne.
The report described it as the largest single political gift ever made by a living person in Britain. It also said the donation was disclosed under UK electoral law.
Pat McFadden and anti corruption groups support tighter rules
Senior Labour MP Pat McFadden raised the idea of a UK crypto donations ban in July, according to the article. He said the “funding of democracy is often a controversial area.”
He also said,
“I think that it’s very important that we know who is providing the donation, are they properly registered, what are the bona fides of that donation.”
Advocacy groups have also supported a ban. The UK Anti Corruption Coalition said last month it supports banning crypto donations.
The coalition said allowing crypto donations “sits uneasily” alongside government warnings about foreign interference, illicit finance, and hostile actors seeking to exploit democratic systems.
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Tatevik Avetisyan is an editor at Kriptoworld who covers emerging crypto trends, blockchain innovation, and altcoin developments. She is passionate about breaking down complex stories for a global audience and making digital finance more accessible.
📅 Published: January 12, 2026 • 🕓 Last updated: January 12, 2026
