- 5/30/2025
Nigel Farage has hit back at Keir Starmer after he slammed him in a conference today, claiming that the Prime Minister is "scared of me."Speaking on stage in Las Vegas, Farage said: "Keir Starmer, our socialist Prime Minister is terrified. Do you know he mentioned me 16 times today in a speech. I'm living rent free inside his head."The comments came as the Reform UK leader took to the stage in Las Vegas and presented a draft cryptocurrency bill, calling for a lower tax rate on crypto profits and new legal protections for digital payments.READ THE FULL STORY HERE
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00:00I spoke at the Amsterdam conference a couple of years ago, I was advocating in 2020 that people
00:06should have crypto, have a bit of Bitcoin as part of their portfolio. All right, I know some of you
00:12were there years before me, I get that, but I've been consistent and we're now taking that on.
00:19And Reform UK, the party that I'm leading, as of today, we are nine points ahead in the opinion polls.
00:30We have Keir Starmer, our socialist prime minister, is terrified. Do you know, he mentioned me 16 times
00:40today in a speech. I'm living rent free inside his head. I'm thrilled to be here today, but to announce
00:51that rather than just words, we have put together, and this is exclusive for today,
00:58the crypto assets and digital finance bill.
01:04Months of work, ladies and gentlemen.
01:05We will campaign for this and we'll put it in place when we win the next general election.
01:16And what we're saying is bring crypto and digital assets in from the cold. Have a capital gains rate
01:27of 10%. And that means, if taxes are reasonable, people will pay them. We're going to have a Bitcoin
01:36digital reserve in the Bank of England.
01:39And we are going to pass legislation that says that no bank can close your account because you're
01:52trading in legal crypto or digital products. No more debanking, ladies and gentlemen.
01:59So yeah, we are taking it very, very seriously. And you know, it's really interesting. I mean,
02:037 million people in Britain have got crypto assets. One in four people under 30 have got crypto assets.
02:12And yet our outdated Labour and Conservative governments have done nothing in this space
02:18at all. And what I want to do when we win the next election is bring us into the 21st century.
02:27We are going to launch in Britain a crypto revolution. We're going to make London
02:33one of the major trading centers of the world. We're deadly serious. And here it is.
02:40And again, he's been saying this since 2020. You have your own experience with being debanked,
02:44but we're going to get to that in just a moment. One of the things I want to ask, you know,
02:47we've seen a number of politicians on this stage from the United States, including the vice president
02:51of the United States speaking here today, bullish on Bitcoin, bullish on the crypto space.
02:56Is it this you're seeing this happen in the United States? Is this the impetus for you now saying
03:01we need to take action in the UK? We need to do something now.
03:04I think what this administration has done to embrace this whole area, to give real oxygen and real
03:10energy to the whole digital world is nothing short of fantastic. And we in my country, we tend to be a
03:20little bit behind. America has all the new ideas. They take a few years to cross the pond. And you
03:29send us many good things. And what you're doing in this space right now through this administration
03:34is good. You also send us bad things because you sent us woke.
03:42But you know what? We've got your back because we've sent you Prince Harry in return. All right.
03:48Yeah. We appreciate that. Quite a personality. We appreciate it, Nigel. One of the things I want
03:57to touch on, you're obviously well known for the work that you did in initiating Brexit. Very,
04:01very impactful. You talk a lot about national sovereignty. Bitcoin is about individual
04:06sovereignty. Could you talk a little bit about the overlap here? Well, I mean, I was, you know,
04:09in the early nineties, I saw the emergence of the European Union. I saw the emergence of these
04:15globalist structures that were designed to take away our democracy, to remove our ability to elect
04:23people who really influenced our law and hand them up to a sort of global bureaucracy. And so I fought
04:29against it. And it took me quarter of a century to get Brexit. But we did it. We voted out. And you know
04:38something, if we were still in the European Union, this would not even be possible. So I believe in
04:44national sovereignty. But I also worry that government right across the Western world has got too big.
04:52It interferes and tries to control virtually every aspect of our lives.
04:58We've touched on the banking industry already, who in many cases have behaved appallingly.
05:04So I believe in individual sovereignty as well. And Bitcoin is the ultimate freedom from big
05:13government. So, yeah, absolutely. I see the two as being absolutely consistent with each other.
05:21When it comes to bureaucratic oversight, government surveillance, we have CBDCs coming down the
05:26pipeline. I think in the UK, they call it what, Britcoin? They like to get cheeky over there in
05:31the UK, right? So Britcoin versus Bitcoin. So we're not fooled here very easily at the Bitcoin conference.
05:36Can we talk a little bit about the dangers of CBDCs and why it's so important that something like
05:40Bitcoin exists?
05:41So the only thing the last Conservative government did in this space was to open up a department within
05:48our central bank, the Bank of England, to spend money getting us ready for a Bitcoin central bank
05:56digital currency. This would be the ultimate form of tyranny. And I can tell you, as I go around the
06:07country, people have woken up to what's going on here. And when we win the next election,
06:12there'll be a CBDC over my dead body.
06:23We heard very similar rhetoric from Trump. I was actually not on this exact stage,
06:27but on the stage in Nashville in 2024. He understood that he didn't underestimate the
06:32audience. He didn't say, oh, I'm not going to talk about these things, these abstract things,
06:35CBDCs. I'm not going to underestimate them. And I'm not going to pretend like I know better. He
06:40listened to what was important to people. What has that process been like in the UK? And please
06:44talk a little bit about how the Reform Party is surprising people in the polls.
06:48Well, I mean, two points there. The first is there has been, I mean, I think Rishi Sunak,
06:53when he was briefly prime minister, made one speech about the crypto space and about the fact that the
07:00city of London, you know, used to be a global trading financial center, one speech and then did
07:08nothing. The Labour government, do you know, we've got 25 men and women in our cabinet, not a single
07:15one has ever worked in private business. They don't even understand this space. So we are kind of,
07:24with a new political party, with the new kids on the block, we are anti-establishment, we are
07:31disruptors. And that's an important word, because when it's not working, it needs to be disrupted.
07:38And we're the only ones talking about this. But what will happen, I promise you, as a result of me
07:44being on this stage tonight with you, making this exclusive announcement, is there's now going to be
07:49a huge national debate. Why is government not doing this? And do you know something? We got Brexit,
07:57we got Brexit, even though I wasn't in government, but I forced them into it. It may well be,
08:04we'll get some of this done even before the next election. And in terms of your second comment,
08:10well, nothing like what has happened in the last year has ever happened in the history of our country
08:17before. I retired after Brexit, back in 2020. I was doing TV with GB News, coming to America. I've got
08:27a friend in America who's done very well. A chap called Donald, he's done ever so well. Have you heard of
08:33him? Yeah, I think you probably know him quite well. And I was retired, but I came back into politics
08:39because I just felt my country, I felt the whole Western world was losing its way. We'd forgotten
08:47the Judeo-Christian values upon which our civilization had been built. And, well, we have, we have.
08:56And so I came back, it was June the 3rd last year. I said, right, I'm going to come back,
09:02I'm going to have another go at this, and I'm going to base the whole thing around the key principles of
09:08family, community and country. They're the things that I care about. And I bet they're the things
09:14you care about as well. And here we are. Today's opinion polls win nine points ahead of Labour.
09:24And the Conservative Party, well, they're called Conservative, but they haven't governed as Conservative.
09:31Their support's falling off a cliff. So there is a genuine political revolution going on in Britain.
09:37And don't underestimate it. It is going to happen. Believe me.
09:43We appreciate that. As a member of parliament, we have this act now. I know the general election is,
09:49I think, a few years away, right? 2029. What does that roadmap look like to get there now? What other
09:53things would you like to see happen before that time? So for us to win, we have to clear a series of
09:57hurdles. The first one was on May the 1st this year, when we had the English counties up for election,
10:04and we won it by a country mile. We came first by country mile. Next year, we've got elections for
10:10the Scottish and Welsh parliaments, devolved parliaments. And I believe we can win in Wales
10:17and probably come second in Scotland. So we have to keep clearing hurdles every year. We've built our
10:23party membership. We're building our credibility. So yeah, I mean, look, this is not going to be easy.
10:30The establishment are not going to give us an easy ride. I've no doubt there will be alternative CVs
10:38of me published. They'll say the most awful things about me. Trouble is half of them will be true. But
10:45anyway, it doesn't matter. I think as Peter McCormack said, some of the things they say about you make
10:49you the fun person that you are. Well, you know, I mean, I'm not in politics for a career. I'm in
10:55politics to make a change and make a difference. I'm a normal human being. I've got my good points.
11:01I've got my weaknesses. But what's wrong with that? Isn't that what we want? Don't we want politicians
11:06that are real and like us and live their lives? I've done many things over the years. You know, I
11:12I worked for 20 years for American companies trading commodities. I worked for Drexel Burnham
11:21Lambert back in the 1980s, which some things good, some don't. You know, I've been a commodity trader.
11:28I've been a radio host. I've been a TV host. I've been in politics. I've been doing financial market
11:37newsletters. I've done many, many things. I've got a very broad experience. And frankly,
11:42I think I'm much better qualified than a bunch of Oxford educated human rights lawyers to run the
11:47country. And there's one thing I would add to that, if you don't mind, it's that you did travel around.
11:53You did talk to people. You did listen to people. Even when you drafted this, what you just shared with
11:58us earlier, you know, you spoke with people from the industry. You spoke with people familiar with
12:01policy. You're willing to listen. You're not saying that you know everything and that you're going to
12:05dictate from the top down. Far from it. And we've been in touch. You know,
12:08the Bitcoin guys in the UK have been in touch sending us stuff. I'm one of the few political
12:13figures. I genuinely go out and meet people. I'll be walking through the high streets in Scotland
12:19on Monday. And some people are rude. Well, fine. Let them be rude. I don't care.
12:24But I always joke that the best place to meet people in Britain is go to the pub,
12:29because every pub is a parliament. People go into the pub for a drink and talk about life. So
12:37I think being a good listener is really, really important. And I think people underestimate Trump
12:43on this. Trump does actually listen to experts and what people have to say.
12:49Yeah, he does. I was in the White House for the crypto summit and we sat there and, you know,
12:54there were lots of people from the industry there. And I know that he had consulted with people,
12:57as you just said, with Bitcoin Policy UK, we had the vice president giving a shout out to the
13:01Bitcoin Policy Institute. So we see a lot of this synergy, right? Listening to people who know better.
13:06I just have to ask you, this is a personal question, actually. Why is it so difficult for
13:10politicians to listen? Right. Don't you want to represent the people, the underdogs,
13:13the people that aren't listened to as much? Doesn't that just seem like an obvious thing to do?
13:16Oh, I think most people in politics think they know better than ordinary people,
13:22rather like the bureaucrats, rather like this whole globalist class who meet at Davos every year
13:28and seem to think they know how best we can run our own lives. And kind of what we're saying with
13:34Bitcoin, kind of what we're saying with all these things is we will make our own decisions. We will
13:40have our own successes and our own failures. And the hell with you. We don't want you interfering with
13:46us in any way at all.
13:52You came to viscerally understand how important Bitcoin is when you were personally debanked for
13:57very dubious reasons, not very hardcore reasons. There was no real good reason why they said you
14:01can no longer have access to your money in a bank account. Can you talk a little bit about how that's
14:05informed your passion for Bitcoin and digital assets? Well, I mean, I am the highest profile case
14:10of debanking that's probably ever been seen in the United Kingdom. And it was, I've got to be honest,
14:17a very, very scary experience. Very scary experience. I went to 10 banks, all of whom refused
14:26me in a camp. It's kind of like they're trying to force me out of the country. But I fought back.
14:34I fought back publicly. And I won. I won. But I was able, through my media contacts and my profile,
14:46to have that fight and win it. Most folk aren't. You know, I mean, even last year, in the United Kingdom,
14:54400,000 people were debanked. Primary reasons? What was the reason for this?
15:01They don't have to give reasons. They don't have to give reasons. But one of the reasons is,
15:08say you transfer a bit of money into crypto. Coinbase or a crypto exchange?
15:13Oh, money going to Coinbase can be a reason for them closing down your account. That's why this
15:18legislation will make it illegal for any bank ever to do that to anybody ever again.
15:26You can stand up. I see some people standing up. That's good. I appreciate that.
15:29I mean, the thing about debanking was, I mean, as soon as I said I'd been debanked,
15:37other people stood up and said they'd been debanked too. They were too frightened to before.
15:41It was almost like coming out, you know, saying I've been debanked. It's been a massive issue on
15:47both sides of the pond. And in America, political debanking has been going on now for years and years
15:54and years. It is absolutely disgusting. It plays no part in a free, open, democratic society. And no
16:03wonder. No wonder so many people are going for Bitcoin and going for crypto because they can't
16:10close you down. And that is the ultimate freedom.
16:16Super important perspective. I want to rewind back a little bit to you going to pubs,
16:20talking with people. I remember watching videos of fishermen, hearing from fishermen in the UK and
16:25other people who are just working in smaller towns in the UK. You know, oftentimes I think sometimes you
16:29say the quiet part out loud. Sometimes people say these things, you're saying it out loud, and then
16:33maybe they're comfortable coming to you saying like, you know what, I actually agree with you,
16:36but I can't say that for this reason or the other. Can you talk a little bit about that if you don't mind?
16:40Well, I think free speech is a vital element of living in an open democratic society. I mean,
16:50you know, we fought world wars. We fought world wars so that we could agree to disagree.
16:57And the modern phenomenon that we've seen is, of course, cancellation.
17:00Not just I disagree with you, but I will do my best to close you down.
17:07And the extreme left have been very, very successful at this.
17:11And one of the problems has been, in this country too, conservative cowardice,
17:17that so-called conservatives haven't fought against it because they don't like nasty things
17:22being said about them on X or Facebook or whatever it may be. And there is a concern in my country
17:30that we now have two-tier justice, two-tier policing led by our prime minister, two-tier care.
17:37And J.D. Vance, you know, is genuinely worried about what is happening to free speech,
17:46what is happening to liberty in the United Kingdom. And frankly, you know, I should be able to offend you.
17:53I prefer it actually. Yeah. Well, let's get started. Let's go.
17:58No, I should be able to offend you. I should be able to say things that you don't like,
18:03that you fundamentally disagree with. But it should be my God-given birthright to be able to do that
18:10without being closed down. And we have, in the UK, a major free speech problem. And I'll tell you what,
18:18the silent majority know that it's wrong. The silent majority want it corrected. We have a woman
18:25called Lucy Connolly who's been given a 31-month prison sentence for saying something unpleasant
18:33on social media in the wake of the horrific murders of three young girls in Southport. She
18:41should not be in prison, period. And while she's in prison, while she's in prison,
18:50we're letting out on early release people who've convicted vile sexual attacks. We've got a two-tier
18:56country. Maybe that's part of the reason why reform is doing so well in the polls right now.
19:02We've got to get back to the right values, back to the values of the forefathers that built our great
19:08countries.
19:09Amazing. And just logic in general. I think we need to embrace logic again.
19:14If you become prime minister, what will realistically-
19:17What do you mean if?
19:17That's it. I apologize. When you become prime minister, ladies and gentlemen-
19:20He's so negative, isn't he?
19:21My apologies. Who put me up here? Why'd they have me do this?
19:25Anyway.
19:26Sorry.
19:27When you become prime minister, and hopefully we're here sitting on stage four years from now,
19:31talking about how you're the prime minister of the UK, what is realistically in your power to do
19:36when it comes to Bitcoin and crypto assets? Now, I say that because we're seeing Trump,
19:39he signed an executive order on creating a strategic Bitcoin reserve,
19:43lots of other really progressive bills being put through the House and Senate right now.
19:46There's some friction, right? Senate Democrats are stopping a lot of the bills,
19:49even for stable coins, something that would benefit the United States.
19:52I'm not as familiar with the British system of government. I will familiarize myself with more
19:58now that we have you running for president and to be prime minister in the next few years.
20:04But what is realistically in your power once you're in power?
20:07What is in my power now is to change the whole debate.
20:11And my appearance with you on stage is going to spark a massive national debate.
20:16There are many people now live watching this in the United Kingdom.
20:21I'm sure the Labour and Conservative parties will say,
20:25oh dear, why didn't we think of that?
20:28So I think in the short term, we can change at least the national argument.
20:32I made the point already that one in four youngsters already has a crypto or digital asset of,
20:39and it's important to include those as well in this whole debate.
20:43In government, you have to have a majority in the House of Commons.
20:47You have to have a majority of MPs by winning the individual districts, constituencies.
20:54And once you've done that, you have a mandate.
20:56You can pretty much do, within reason, what you want.
21:02This isn't going to happen overnight.
21:04I wish the election was sooner than 2029.
21:07But it gives us a long time to build up the activist base, what I call the people's army.
21:15The people's army of folk who want real fundamental change.
21:19The people's army who say we want politicians, not who just want to be Prime Minister,
21:25or have a ministerial car, but actually want to affect real, genuine, radical change.
21:31And I'm a radical.
21:32I mean, I am, you know, I'm probably the most disliked human being
21:38by the political class in Britain that has been for over 100 years.
21:41And do you know what? If they hate me, but increasingly the people love me,
21:45I reckon I'm in the right place.
21:50Nigel, we're winding down.
21:51I just want to say thank you so much again for flying across the Atlantic to do this with us.
21:55But we were talking backstage about one last quite exciting announcement that you have to make,
21:59so I want to give you the floor to let the audience know what else you have to do.
22:02Well, thank you. The other thing I'm going to announce tonight,
22:04which we've held back just for you, Frank, on this conference, is that as of now,
22:09as of now, provided you are an eligible UK donor, you can go to reformparty.uk.
22:18And as of now, we are the first political party in Britain who can accept donations
22:25in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
22:29So once again, we're being innovative.
22:35And again, we're way behind you in America.
22:38But as of now, people with Bitcoin can give us money, provided they're eligible.
22:43And it's all part of what we are.
22:45My message to the British public, my message particularly to young people, is help us
22:53to help you bring our country properly into the 21st century.
23:01Let's recognise that crypto, Bitcoin, digital assets are here to stay.
23:06And it's really funny because when I first advocated this five years ago,
23:11I had the Financial Times, the Governor of the Bank of England,
23:16all saying the whole thing was a Ponzi scheme.
23:18You'd lose all your money.
23:21And it just goes to show the establishment nearly always, all through history, gets pretty much
23:27everything wrong.
23:28It's all about disruptors.
23:30It's all about innovators.
23:32It's all about freedom fighters.
23:34And I have to say, I might be here today before a predominantly American audience.
23:42But you know what, folks?
23:43We're all part of the same movement for individual freedom, for liberty, for being the masters of our
23:50own destiny.
23:51And I'm very, very proud and happy that you asked me to come.
23:54I've loved every minute of it.
23:57Ladies and gentlemen, we have a minute left.
23:58I think he deserves a standing applause for that time.
24:00So, Nigel, feel free to give him a last final word.
24:03But I think you said it perfectly there.
24:04I want to thank you so much for taking the time to do this with us.
24:07A complete pleasure to have you here.
24:08We look forward to doing this again, hopefully the next few years.
24:11And also when, when he becomes the next prime minister.
24:15I will come back.
24:16I'll come back whether I'm prime minister or not.
24:18I will come back.
24:19I'll be here.
24:19Give him a hand.
24:20We'll hold him up here.
24:21We got the champion here, Nigel Farage, ladies and gentlemen.
24:24We have some great guests coming up on the stage.
24:26Up next, I think we have Lynn Alden, then Jack Mahlers, and then we have Michael Saylor,
24:30and then the one and only Ross Ulbrich to close it out.
24:32So everybody stay where you're seated.
24:33We'll be right back after this.
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