'I'm prepared to go to prison' to stop UK CBDC, Reform leader Nigel Farage says

Currently riding high in the polls, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage set out some of the party's pro-crypto policies at a packed Zebu Live main stage in London on Wednesday, hoping to win over a growing group of the electorate that could help it break the country's dominant two-party system.

During a fireside chat with The Block veteran Frank Chaparro, Farage was particularly adamant against the idea of central bank digital currencies, describing them as a "total and utter horror" that fits into the current government's plans for a digital ID.

The UK has been exploring a potential CBDC in recent years. However, while the Bank of England and the HM Treasury have said they remain undecided on its necessity, Farage claimed that Andrew Bailey, the central bank’s governor, had told him privately that it intended to move ahead with plans.

"I would rather go to prison, and I'm prepared to go to prison" to stop having CBDCs administered under digital ID, Farage said.

Farage also reflected on his career as a commodities trader not far from the event location, channeling a theme from Donald Trump's U.S. presidential campaign by pledging to make London "a great place again," leveraging new opportunities like crypto and criticizing the government and regulators for creating an environment that is not conducive to entrepreneurs, business, and innovation. "I want to bring in digital assets and crypto from the cold, in London, and have a regulatory framework under which everybody can operate," Farage said, promising to make the UK a global hub for crypto if he enters Number 10 Downing Street.

Reiterating what he first pledged at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas in May this year, Farage also plans to introduce a Crypto Assets and Digital Finance Bill if the right-wing populist political party wins the next general election — which must be held no later than Aug. 15, 2029 — and he becomes the UK Prime Minister.

Though that is still likely a few years away, if the party is successful and the legislation is enacted, it would mean the creation of a "bitcoin digital reserve" in the Bank of England, a reduction in capital gains tax from 24% to 10%, and making it illegal for any bank to close customer accounts simply because they send or receive funds from crypto exchanges or trade legal cryptocurrencies.

Following criminal seizures, the UK already has the third-largest known bitcoin holdings among sovereign nations with 61,245 BTC ($6.5 billion), behind just China and the U.S. with 190,000 BTC and 325,477 BTC, respectively, according to Bitcoin Treasuries ' estimates based on known seizures and public disclosures. However, the government has not been fully transparent about where these seized bitcoin or other crypto assets are held, nor which specific agency or custodian is directly responsible for safekeeping them, citing operational and security risks.

While Farage said Reform is committed to establishing the reserve, he also expressed concern at Wednesday's conference that the current Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, may sell off the assets to help with the country's fiscal woes.

Discussing his own challenges with debanking in 2020, Farage said the experience converted him from someone who already saw crypto as a valid industry to seeing it as the "ultimate freedom of the 21st century, being in control over your own money, making your own decisions, free from authoritarian government."

Reform UK's prospects

The current center-left Labour government and center-right Conservative Party have traditionally dominated UK elections.

Reform is a relatively new political entity that emerged from key figures previously involved with the UK Independence Party (UKIP), including Nigel Farage. It was established in 2018 under the name The Brexit Party and later rebranded as Reform UK in 2021.

Recent aggregated seat-projection data  from Electoral Calculus has Reform on 30.4% of voting intention for the next general election, with the current Labour government trailing on 21.3%. The Conservatives are on 17.2%, the Liberal Democrats 14%, and the Green Party commands 9.6% of the election polling.

In terms of predicted seats, that would translate to 301 members of parliament for Reform, 153 for Labour, 71 for the Liberal Democrats, 51 for the Conservatives, and 6 for the Greens.

The UK has so far adopted a phased approach to crypto regulation, aiming to position itself as a global hub for digital assets while prioritizing consumer protection and financial stability.

Ahead of the last UK general election in 2024, none of the major UK political parties mentioned crypto in their manifestos, nor did they return requests for comment from The Block regarding any crypto-specific policy ideas or plans for the industry in the country. However, in May, Reform became the first UK political party to accept crypto donations from eligible donors, and party chair Zia Yusuf went as far as to say that HMRC should allow people to pay their taxes in crypto. 

With an estimated 7 million UK adults, around 12% of the population now owning crypto, according to the latest FCA research , and other industry surveys placing that nearer 25%, much like Trump found in the U.S., it could become an increasingly important battleground.