Overview
- The government, which announced the move Wednesday after publishing the Rycroft review, will write the ban into the Representation of the People Bill and apply it retrospectively with a 30‑day window to return crypto and criminal penalties after that.
- Officials say crypto can hide a donor’s identity through tools like mixers and privacy coins, and by splitting many small payments under reporting limits, so a pause gives regulators time to build clear rules.
- The new £100,000 annual limit on donations from British electors overseas will also apply from Wednesday once the law takes effect, and parties will have 30 days to send back any amount above the cap including covered loans.
- Reform UK faces the most immediate impact because it has courted crypto and relied on large gifts from Thailand‑based investor Christopher Harborne, and its MPs walked out of Parliament as Keir Starmer unveiled the measures.
- Rycroft’s wider proposals under consideration include a ban on foreign‑funded online political ads, a rule tying company donations to reported taxable profits, and stronger enforcement powers, and he stresses the crypto pause is an interlude rather than a permanent ban.