Ben Delo, a British cryptocurrency entrepreneur and billionaire, has been registered as a voter at an Oxfordshire address since 2022, despite publicly residing in Hong Kong. This registration predates his April 2026 announcement that he planned to return to the UK to increase his financial support for Reform UK, Nigel Farage’s political party.
Delo’s voter registration has prompted scrutiny given his long-term residence in Hong Kong, where he holds a lifetime right of abode granted in 2019. In October 2023, he purchased a £1.1 million apartment in the city. Electoral law allows voters to register at more than one residence, but only if the address is a genuine, settled home. Experts have questioned whether Delo’s Oxfordshire property meets these criteria. Gavin Millar KC, an electoral law specialist, noted that if Delo spent most of his time in Hong Kong for work and residence between 2022 and 2026, the Oxfordshire address would not qualify as his settled residence under the Representation of the People Act 1983.
Delo declined to comment on the specifics of his residency but is understood to assert full compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. The local authority responsible for his Oxfordshire registration confirmed it had followed established procedures to ensure eligibility.
The controversy arises amid Delo’s record £36 million donation to Reform UK announced this month, matched by another multi-million-pound contribution from Christopher Harborne, a Thai-based billionaire. Farage has maintained that both donations are fully compliant with current regulations.
However, ongoing legislative proposals aim to limit political donations from Britons living abroad. The government plans to introduce residency tests that will apply retrospectively to donations made after March 25 of this year. This legislation could potentially affect Delo’s contribution if it is deemed that he has not met the residency criteria, which includes continuous UK residence for 12 months prior to donating.
The Electoral Commission requires that registered voters reside at the UK address they claim and consider factors like how the property is used and the permanence of the connection. False registration information carries criminal penalties, but no evidence suggests Delo provided false details.
Delo owns two properties in Oxfordshire, including a large six-bedroom house purchased in 2018 and a Georgian country home acquired in 2022 that is undergoing restoration. Both properties contrast with his Hong Kong residence, where he has lived since 2012 following work in finance and high-frequency trading.
Born in Sheffield in 1984, Delo was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome as a child and later achieved academic distinction at Oxford University. After moving to Hong Kong in 2012, he became a billionaire through bitcoin ventures. His career has also involved legal challenges in the US, where he pleaded guilty in 2022 to violating anti-money laundering regulations linked to the cryptocurrency platform BitMEX. He was fined $10 million and sentenced to probation but received a full presidential pardon from Donald Trump in 2025.
Recently, BitMEX has faced a civil claim alleging fraudulent conduct related to asset seizures of another cryptocurrency company, Celsius. The claim targets the company but not Delo personally. BitMEX has rejected the allegations as unfounded.
Since the legal issues in the US, Delo’s philanthropic focus has shifted toward supporting political causes aligned with free speech and national renewal. He has expressed concern about economic stagnation and social division in Britain, citing Reform UK as the party addressing these challenges. His contributions to the party in 2026 total £44 million.