Pardoned BitMEX Co-Founder Ben Delo Pledges $27 Million to London Math Institute
Ben Delo co-founded crypto exchange BitMEX in 2014 and pleaded guilty in 2022 to violating the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act, paying a $10 million fine. President Donald Trump pardoned him in March 2025. The London Institute for Mathematical Sciences, founded in 2011, is an independent research center where scholars focus on pure mathematics, theoretical physics and artificial intelligence without teaching or administrative duties.
On March 3, 2026, Delo pledged £20 million ($27 million) to LIMS, one of the largest private gifts to a UK research institution outside Oxford and Cambridge. The commitment comprises £10 million upfront and another £10 million once the institute raises matching funds. It anchors a broader £80 million endowment campaign intended to secure LIMS’s long-term independence and help its researchers compete for Fields Medals or Nobel Prizes.
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The history behind this eventBitMEX Co-Founder Donates $5 Million to Reform UK
BitMEX co-founder Ben Delo is a prominent figure in Britain's crypto industry, while Nigel Farage's Reform UK has sought to expand its political influence in recent years. The large donation has drawn attention as Britain considers suspending political parties' acceptance of cryptoasset donations, citing concerns over foreign interference and opaque funding sources.
In an April 8, 2026 opinion piece in The Telegraph, Delo said he had donated about £4 million, or roughly $5.1 million, to Reform UK since the start of the year. He did not say whether the donations were made in fiat currency or cryptoassets. Delo also backed a government suspension of crypto political donations. On April 7, the UK Electoral Commission said such donations remain legal but must be reported at their sterling value when received, with the donor's identity verified.
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