Nigel Farage takes £215,000 stake in crypto firm run by Tory former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng

Nigel Farage has taken a stake in cryptocurrency business led by Tory former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng.

The Reform UK leader said the UK ‘can and should be a major global hub for the crypto industry’ as he invested £215,000 in Stack BTC.

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

The investment was part of a £260,000 fundraising that also include Blockchain.com.

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 per cent 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.

Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said: ‘Having an association with two well-known political figures might help to boost the company’s profile. 

‘That is important given Stack has limited resources and may need to undertake multiple fundraisings if it wants to get the business off the ground.

‘Having grand plans to build a portfolio of high-quality, cash-generative companies is one thing, executing on those plans and making them happen is another.’