The UK Parliament pushes to ban cryptocurrency political donations as regulatory attitudes continue to tighten

【BlockBeats】On January 12th, a noteworthy development occurred—seven UK parliamentary committee chairs jointly pressured the government to explicitly ban cryptocurrency political donations in the upcoming Electoral Bill.

What is the main reason? Liam Byrne, chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, and others are concerned that crypto funds entering political donations could undermine transparency and traceability of funding flows, and may also open the door for foreign capital to interfere in UK politics. The Labour government actually agrees with this risk, as election integrity is no small matter. However, due to the complexity of implementation, this ban might not be included in the bill in the short term.

An interesting contrast is evident. Last year, Reform UK became the first party in the UK to accept Bitcoin donations, with leader Nigel Farage framing this move as part of a “cryptocurrency revolution.” Now, regulators are tightening controls while political parties are exploring, making their game quite intriguing. Such policy battles are actually common worldwide—there is always tension between industry innovation and risk management.