How a Tether shareholder bought Nigel Farage — and nearly stopped Britain's digital pound

The idea and some of the facts in this piece come from an investigation by minfin.com.ua; we independently verified the key figures and reworked the material for our own audience.

Tether, the issuer of the largest stablecoin, USDT, stopped being just a "bridge" between the dollar and crypto a while ago. The company buys gold and US government bonds on an industrial scale, and one of its co-owners directly funds a political party actively fighting against the launch of Britain's own state digital currency. Here's how it all connects.

Who is Christopher Harborne

Christopher Harborne is a British-Thai billionaire and technology investor who owns roughly a 12% stake in Tether Limited. That stake alone is estimated to earn him around £1 billion a year from the company's profits.

£25 million into Reform UK

According to available reporting, Harborne has donated a total of roughly £25 million to Nigel Farage's Reform UK — about two-thirds of the party's entire funding. Separately, he personally gifted Farage £5 million — a gift now under investigation by Parliament's Standards Committee. One of the larger donations, £9 million, landed in August, shortly before Farage's meeting with the Bank of England.

The meeting with the Bank of England

In September, Farage and Reform UK MP Richard Tice personally met with Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey. At the meeting, Farage pushed two positions: scrapping plans for "Britcoin" (the UK's proposed state digital currency) and dropping proposed caps on stablecoin holdings. Both positions align directly with Tether's commercial interests — industry bodies had previously told the regulator that a state digital currency posed a "significant risk" to stablecoins.

Asked directly whether Britcoin plans were still moving forward, Bailey gave a one-word answer: "Yes." Farage reacted sharply, calling the prospect "total and utter horror" and telling Bailey: "Listen mate, you're being a dinosaur." In another public appearance, Farage went further: "I'm prepared to go to prison to stop us having central bank digital currencies administered under digital ID."

Tether's scale: gold, bonds, profit

To put the money in perspective: Tether has stockpiled roughly 140 tonnes of physical gold (estimated at $20-24 billion, depending on the source), and its US Treasury holdings have reached around $135 billion — enough to surpass South Korea and rank among the largest holders of US government debt in the world. Its net profit for 2025 topped $10 billion — generated by a headcount estimated at somewhere between 150 and 300 employees.

What this means in practice

The Tether-Farage story is a concrete example of stablecoin profits converting directly into political influence: a company that makes its money issuing USDT is, through one of its major shareholders, funding a party that publicly lobbies for positions that happen to benefit that exact business. It's still unclear where the pressure on the Bank of England will lead — Bailey confirmed Britcoin work is continuing — but the clash itself shows that stablecoin regulation in Britain is increasingly becoming a political question, not just a technical one.

This material is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice.