The Rycroft Review into countering foreign financial influence and interference in UK politics was published last week and it recommends a temporary moratorium – not a permanent ban – on crypto donations, endorsing the findings of RUSI's Cryptocurrencies in UK Politics project.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed the report and announced that the government would be implementing an immediate moratorium on all political donations made in cryptocurrencies.
CFS Research Fellow Eliza Lockhart said:
We have been calling for a moratorium because it is, in effect, a ban with a plan – it pauses our immediate risk exposure but ties that pause to several safeguards, including the development of a robust regulatory framework. This matters because the spectrum of foreign interference risks associated with crypto goes beyond just donations made in crypto.
Eliza Lockhart
Research Fellow
She added:
The more significant challenge is how crypto can be used upstream, that is, across the transaction history of a donation to obscure beneficial ownership and potentially enable foreign or malign interference. A moratorium keeps that problem in focus while still managing our immediate risk, whereas a permanent ban would have treated the issue as resolved, creating a false sense of security and leaving underlying vulnerabilities unaddressed.
Eliza Lockhart
Research Fellow