Farage takes £215,000 stake in Kwarteng's bitcoin treasury firm Stack BTC
Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, has invested £215,000 in Stack BTC, a London-listed bitcoin treasury company chaired by former Conservative chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, in a move that cements his public embrace of the cryptocurrency industry.
The investment, made through Farage's holding vehicle Thorn In The Side Ltd, gives him approximately 6.31% of Stack BTC following completion of the funding round. The new shares are expected to begin trading on the Aquis Growth Market on 12 March.
Stack BTC raised £260,000 in total by selling 5.2 million new shares at 5 pence each. Blockchain.com also participated in the round and will work alongside the company to develop its bitcoin treasury infrastructure and institutional-grade custody services. The company currently holds 21 bitcoin on its balance sheet.
Shares in Stack BTC rose 12% to 6.875 pence following the announcement, reflecting investor enthusiasm for a fundraise that attracted both a prominent political figure and an established name in the digital assets industry.
Farage said he had long been among the United Kingdom's few political advocates for bitcoin and that London should continue to strengthen its role as a centre for financial innovation. "I have long been one of the UK's few political advocates for Bitcoin," he said in a statement, adding that the country should position itself as a global hub for the crypto industry.
Kwarteng, who serves as chairman of Stack BTC, said Farage's investment aligned with the company's stated goal of building a portfolio of cash-generative UK businesses while accumulating bitcoin as a treasury asset.
The transaction deepens Reform UK's courtship of the cryptocurrency community. The party, which has been leading in opinion polls, has already moved to accept donations in cryptocurrency, a symbolic gesture designed to appeal to retail investors and digital asset enthusiasts who have grown in political significance in recent years.
Farage's personal stake in a listed crypto-adjacent vehicle raises questions about the interplay between his political positioning and his investment interests, though the disclosure of the transaction through the stock market announcement ensures transparency about his financial involvement in the sector he has championed publicly.
