When money meets politics

Farage, crypto and gold: positioned for volatility

Stack of profits

The listing of Stack BTC plc in early 2026 resulted in a rapid repricing of equity that significantly increased the mark-to-market valuation of holdings for its early investors. Among them were Paul Withers, CEO of gold bullion business Direct Bullion, Nigel Farage, and former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, who also appears as a shareholder. The MP for Clacton is now the second largest shareholder of the company, having declared an investment of £215k, or £5p per share.

Easy comes, easy goes: Farage also declared £415k of payments from Direct Bullion between Dec/24 and Oct/25 for being their brand ambassador. That amount of money being spent on a single personality is extraordinary. For perspective, the average yearly accumulated profit for last four accounting years of DB (ending Jan/25) was £434k. The highest yearly increase being £676k in 2023.

The sequence begins with the restructuring of Kasei Holdings plc. In September 2025, after facing several challenges with valuation of cryptocurrencies, Kasei sold its operating assets and around £3 million was returned to shareholders, leaving behind a listed shell. On the 6th of February 2026, that shell was recapitalised through a subscription at £0.01 per share, raising roughly £200k and transferring control to a new group of investors. On 23rd of February 2026, a second fundraising followed, raising approximately £2.1 million at £0.05 per share. One of the most recent listing prices of Stack BTC shares is £0.1275 - an extraordinary increase in valuation to £8m, well above the value of their declared 31 BTC (just over £2 million).

At this valuation, the mark-to-market gains for early participants become clear. Paul Withers acquired approximately 7.5 million shares at 1p (around £75k) and a further 12.4 million shares at 5p (around £620k), giving him a total holding of roughly 19.9 million shares. At a share price of 12.75p, this stake is valued at approximately £2.5 million, representing a gain of around £1.8 million relative to his total investment.

Nigel Farage entered at the second fundraising, investing approximately £215k at 5p and receiving around 4.3 million shares. At the same market price of 12.75p, his holding is worth approximately £547k, a mark-to-market increase of roughly £330k.

The MP for Clacton does not appear in the initial fundraising announcement of Stack BTC reflected above but is listed as a shareholder on admission, indicating participation in the placing with disclosure only reflected in the post-admission share register. It was not on public domain the reasons for the later announcement.

Both Farage and Withers made significant gains which coincide with the public disclosure of Farage's investment in the company. From now on, if Bitcoin goes up, the valuation of the company goes up too. It is clear that the MP for Clacton has even more incentives now to promote crypto assets, as he did on LBC during the Nick Ferrari show when he promoted Tether, the stable coin printed by an entity partially owned by his largest donor, Christopher Harborne:

This shift in financial positioning sits alongside changes in public positioning. Farage previously described the Truss–Kwarteng mini budget as “the best Conservative budget since 1986”, before later criticising it after market reaction, citing insufficient spending cuts. Kwarteng, for his part, had previously expressed scepticism about cryptocurrencies, yet now appears as a shareholder in a Bitcoin-focused vehicle. In Kwarteng's own words: Bitcoin was “a total crapshoot” compared to gold.

The bullion bull

Direct Bullion operates as a retail distributor of physical gold and silver, offering bullion sales, delivery and storage services. The business extends into the United States through DB Miami Inc, where Paul Withers serves as a director alongside Samuel O’Brien. O’Brien is the founder and president of True Gold Republic, a US precious metals dealer that was previously branded as Direct Bullion USA before a rebrand in 2024. The two entities share the same trading address, indicating a rebranding strategy.

The US operation focuses significantly on retirement-linked products, including gold held within Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). These structures involve the rollover of pension or retirement funds into self-directed accounts used to purchase and store physical bullion. In the UK, Direct Bullion’s marketing has also been associated with pension-related positioning.

Given the focus on pension, it is not particularly surprising that Direct Bullion chose Reform rallies/conferences to promote their product. One big question does arise from this: is that the right product for pensioners? Without financial advice, investors would be at risk of making the wrong investment decision.

Samuel O’Brien has stated in promotional material that he made substantial profits trading gold during the Brexit period, prior to establishing his US-based business. In his own words, he worked for an American gold company in London and made significant gains during that volatile period. The CV of Withers is a bit less clear: he worked as a technician for the Royal Navy until 2004, and then his public bio (including Linkedin) skips to 2014 as director and founder of Direct Bullion. Unclear what he did during that 10 year gap when he was between 23 and 33 years old - or how he met Samuel or indeed Farage, who has personal connections as well as an early professional link to the metals industry.

Direct Bullion itself was established in 2016 by Paul Withers and Sonny Dobran. Dobran held director and significant control roles before ceasing those positions around April 2025. Dobran is an incredibly low-profile individual with no social media, public appearances or professional profile available.

Sonny Dobran

A review of the shareholder register following the February 2026 fundraising shows that a number of individuals associated with Direct Bullion appear among shareholders in Stack BTC. These include Paul Withers, Nigel Farage, Direct Bullion ambassador Rob Moore, Kwasi Kwarteng, and other linked individuals such as Sean Mcgrady and Chris Boudidit, indicating a visible overlap between the Direct Bullion network and the shareholder base of the newly recapitalised company.

T⁸here is at least one exception, though. Another individual appearing within the same shareholder list is Harry Parslow, who has been identified in as Nigel Farage’s personal media producer. Parslow is also referenced in reporting by the Montenegrin outlet Vijesti and in a column written by longstanding Farage friend, senior Reform member and former media advisor Gawain Towler. According to these sources, Towler, a staunch Brexiteer, travelled to Montenegro and worked with the pro-EU Europe Now (PES) movement, with Parslow part of the same team. Their activities included media strategy and the production of video content for the campaign of Milojko Spajic. It is not clear how the payments were made, but Towler admitted trading/owning cryptocurrencies and now it is clear Parslow is also investing in crypto. In Montenegro it is possible to pay for goods and services with crypto: even to buy luxury estates or yachts.

Harry Parslow, on the left. He can be seen in multiple occasions with Farage

Reporting by Vijesti further noted allegations that individuals involved in this campaign media work were linked to or working with a prominent Reform donor and campaign aide residing in Montenegro who, through legal representation, denied financing or directly hiring the team.

Reform’ Gawain Towler in Montenegro with PM Spajic; he wrote himself confirming Harry Parslow joined him in media production for the Montenigrin politician

From the outside, the sequence shows a progression from a listed shell following asset disposals, through recapitalisation and fundraising, to a revaluation of equity tied to a Bitcoin treasury strategy. Alongside this sits a network of individuals connected through gold bullion distribution in the UK and US, retirement-linked investment products, and associated media and political campaign activity.