A Financial Times investigation has shed new light on crypto billionaire Ben Delo’s financing of Nina Power’s failed libel case. Delo loaned Power more than £300,000 for the lawsuit, according to the FT. He secured the loan with a charge over her London flat before the October 2023 trial.
Power and writer Daniel Miller sued artist Luke Turner over 16 tweets and a webpage archive. Turner accused the pair of online harassment. However, a judge dismissed their libel claims in November 2023. She also dismissed Turner’s harassment counterclaim after the seven-day trial.
Delo’s Loan and Power’s Flat
HM Land Registry records show Delo registered a mortgage charge against Power’s flat on September 20, 2023. Power bought the property for £249,000 in 2012. The charge gave Delo security over the property before the court ordered Power and Miller to cover 80% of Turner’s legal costs.
The High Court ordered the pair to make an initial £250,000 payment within 14 days. Power entered bankruptcy in July 2024, following Miller’s bankruptcy in February. The FT reported that Delo subsequently enforced his security.
According to the FT, Delo now acts as Power’s landlord. Power remains the legal owner of the flat, while her monthly payments reportedly count toward the loan.
Neither Delo nor Power publicly responded to the FT report when it appeared. The arrangement follows Turner’s earlier claims that Delo funded the litigation.
What the Court Found?
Justice Collins Rice dismissed the libel claims after Power and Miller failed to establish serious harm. She also dismissed Turner’s harassment claim after the seven-day trial.
The judgment described some of the claimants’ conduct as bullying and referred to “the whiff of threat and antisemitism.” However, the court found that the conduct did not meet the legal threshold for harassment.
The case concerned specific online conduct involving Turner. Turner later said an insolvency paper trail identified Delo as the litigation funder.
Delo’s Political Donations
The FT report comes days after Delo announced a £36 million donation to Reform UK. The FT reported that the gift was the largest single donation to a British political party. Christopher Harborne matched the amount the following day, taking their combined contribution to £72 million.
Delo had already given Reform £8 million earlier this year. His latest donation brings his reported 2026 contributions to £44 million, according to the FT. Reform also faces a Metropolitan Police investigation into its fundraising practices.
Delo co-founded BitMEX with Arthur Hayes and Samuel Reed. In 2022, a US court sentenced him to probation after he pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act.
President Donald Trump later granted Delo a full and unconditional pardon in March 2025.
