Farage emboldened by Trump’s victory – but whether he can replicate that success remains to be seen
Fresh from Donald Trump’s victory party at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, it is an emboldened Nigel Farage who meets us at his latest Reform conference in Newport, South Wales.
“What a win!” He chirps, as the cameras are set up.
To be clear: Nigel Farage is not on the brink of becoming the next British prime minister, but there are undoubtedly parallels between the Reform leader and the US president-elect.
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Both men are trying to tap into disillusioned “left behind” voters, both men are cutting through in rural communities and former industry heartlands. There are red MAGA hats on show at the Reform conference on Friday.
But once the cameras are rolling, and I ask about criticism that he is not spending enough time in his constituency of Clacton, Mr Farage’s mood shifts.
He is undeniably testy. “How much time does Keir Starmer spend in his constituency?” he shoots back, when I ask about missed budget votes while he was in the US.
I remind him he is not yet prime minister.
“I have bought a house in Clacton! What more do you want!”
Behind the scenes though, someone close to Mr Farage tells me he is struggling with the balance of being a constituency MP, leading Reform and pre-agreed (paid) commitments in the US.
“I honour the commitments, they were already there” he tells me, “I’ve taken far less on for next year”.
Nigel Farage at the Reform UK Welsh Conference at the Celtic Manor hotel in Newport. Pic: PA
After our interview, a source close to him said: “Nigel has been to Clacton more than 10 times since being elected. Has kept his promise to have a property in the constituency. Writes a weekly column for the Clacton Gazette (10 weeks in a row). And is having two further visits next week.”
Another interesting, and at times uncomfortable, part of the interview is when I ask about Donald Trump’s position on Ukraine.
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Mr Farage tells me there need to be “concessions on both sides”.
When I push on whether that means Ukrainians making territorial concessions he tells me: “I’m not playing your silly game.”
He may well be wary of the backlash he faced in the election campaign for suggesting the West “provoked” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by expanding eastwards. He did say the war was “of course” President Putin’s fault.
But in truth it is not Mr Farage’s foreign, but his domestic policy that is what has brought people here on Friday.
The NHS, cost of living and immigration are the issues that come up again and again, and people here think the Reform leader has the answers: “He is just different,” one member says.
The Reform party clearly spots an opportunity in Wales. It won 16.9% of the vote share here, and launched its manifesto (or what it calls its “contract”) in Merthyr Tydfil.
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Despite winning no seats, they received a greater share of the vote than the Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru.
Mr Farage’s team tell me he could win “20-plus” seats at the Senedd elections in 2026.
The elections for the Welsh parliament are part of Reform’s masterplan, a spring board for more coverage and ultimately more power.
After the interviews he bounces up for his seat and heads out to address the conference rally. The thousand or so members here can’t contain their excitement: for all the warm up acts, they’ve come here for one man.
In the confines of the Newport conference hall, Nigel Farage is preaching to the choir. His base has always been solid, whether he can really replicate something similar to Trump’s success is a very different question.
KuCoin announced an exclusive multiyear deal with Tomorrowland Winter and Tomorrowland Belgium from 2026 to 2028, making the exchange the music festival’s exclusive crypto and payments partner.
The move comes just weeks after KuCoin secured a Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) service provider license in the European Union.
KuCoin’s MiCA play goes mass‑market
KuCoin EU Exchange recently obtained a crypto asset service provider license in Austria under the EU’s MiCA regime, giving it a fully regulated foothold in the bloc as Brussels’ new rulebook for exchanges, custody and stablecoins comes into force.
The Tomorrowland deal signals how KuCoin plans to use that status, not just to run a compliant trading venue, but to plug crypto rails directly into mainstream culture.
KuCoin said the Tomorrowland deal will cover Tomorrowland Winter 2026 in Alpe d’Huez, France, and Tomorrowland Belgium 2026 in Boom, Belgium, with the same arrangement continuing through 2028.
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From sponsorship to payment rails
KuCoin insists this is not just a logo play. A spokesperson at KuCoin told Cointelegraph that as an exclusive payments partner, the exchange is working with Tomorrowland to weave crypto into the festival’s existing payments stack so that “financial tools” sit behind the scenes of ticketing, merch and food and drink.
The stated goal is to keep the rails “intuitive and invisible,” rather than forcing festivalgoers through clunky wallets or unfamiliar flows, with KuCoin positioning itself as facilitating the secure and efficient movement of value while fans focus on the music.
The company declined to spell out exactly which assets and rails will be supported on‑site, or whether every purchase will run natively onchain, but said that KuCoin’s “Trust First. Trade Next.” mantra runs through its messaging.
The spokesperson stressed advanced security, multi‑layer protection and adherence to EU standards as the foundation for taking crypto beyond the trading screen and into live events.
Related: What is Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA)?
Learning from FTX’s Tomorrowland flop
Tomorrowland’s organizers have been here before. In 2022, the festival announced a Web3 partnership with FTX Europe that promised NFTs and “the future of music festivals” before collapsing along with the exchange itself months later.
That experience makes the choice of a MiCA‑licensed partner, and the emphasis on user protection, more than cosmetic; it is a second attempt at bridging culture and crypto (this time with regulatory scaffolding and clearer guardrails).
Rather than setting public hard targets for user numbers or payment volumes by 2028, KuCoin is pitching success as “seamless integration” of crypto into the festival experience:
“We aim to demonstrate that digital assets can be a core component of global digital finance, moving from a niche technology to a mainstream utility. “
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Screenshots of an internal email outlining plans to wind down Shima Capital have surfaced online, days after the US Securities and Exchange Commission sued the crypto venture firm and its founder over allegations of investor fraud.
On Nov. 25, the SEC charged Shima Capital Management LLC and its founder, Yida Gao, with making false and misleading statements while raising almost $170 million from investors, the agency announced on Dec. 3.
The complaint, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, alleged that Gao inflated his investment track record in marketing materials used to raise capital for Shima Capital Fund I between 2021 and 2023.
According to the SEC, Gao claimed one prior investment had delivered a 90x return, when the actual return was closer to 2.8x. The regulator also alleged that when discrepancies in the pitch deck were about to be reported publicly, Gao told investors the issues were the result of clerical errors.
SEC alleges $1.9 million undisclosed gain
Separately, the SEC claimed that Gao raised about $11.9 million through a special purpose vehicle tied to BitClout tokens, telling investors that they would be protected by discounted token purchases. While Gao did acquire tokens at a discount, the SEC said he sold them to the SPV at a higher price without disclosing that he personally retained about $1.9 million in profits.
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In a Wednesday post on X, crypto journalist Kate Irwin shared screenshots of an email allegedly sent by Gao to portfolio founders. In the screenshots, Gao purportedly said he would step down as managing director of Shima Capital and that the fund would undergo an “orderly wind-down.”
The screenshots purportedly show Gao stating that the SEC and Department of Justice actions are related to his personal conduct, not that of Shima Capital’s portfolio companies, and claiming that no fines have been imposed on the company.
The screenshots also show that independent advisers from FTI Consulting and FTI Capital Management would oversee the wind-down process and monetization of investments, while Shima’s finance team would remain in place. Gao allegedly said he would remain involved with portfolio support “as permitted,” but without management control.
Cointelegraph could not independently verify the email. We reached out to Shima Capital and some of the fund’s portfolio companies for confirmation, but had not received responses at the time of publication.
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Shima Capital launched with $200 million debut fund
In 2022, Shima Capital announced the launch of its first venture fund, Shima Capital Fund I, raising $200 million to back early-stage blockchain startups. Founded in 2021 by Gao, the firm said the fund received backing from a range of prominent investors, including Dragonfly Capital, Animoca Brands, OKX Blockdream Capital, Republic and Andrew Yang.
Shima Capital has invested in numerous crypto projects, including Humanity Protocol, Berachain, Monad, Pudgy Penguins, Shiba Inu and many others.
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