A British investor identified only as Chris has recovered 61 bitcoin worth approximately $4.5 million more than 12 years after losing access through the collapse of early UK exchange Intersango. Chris originally spent around £1,500, then about $2,000, on bitcoin in December 2011 through Britcoin, which later became Intersango. At the time, bitcoin traded below $4, according to CEL Solicitors, the law firm that handled the recovery.
The exchange stopped providing trading services and disappeared from the internet by early 2014, leaving Chris unable to access holdings that had once been worth about £4,000. CEL Solicitors, working with sister company The Crypto Tracing Experts, combined blockchain tracing technology with old banking records, emails, and account documentation to prove ownership. Ryan Sweetnam, director of financial litigation at CEL, said evidence included banking documents dating back almost 15 years. The law firm says the case was completed in about four months without law-enforcement intervention.
CEL added that it identified a wallet containing more than 5,500 BTC, potentially linked to former Intersango users, worth roughly $421 million at a bitcoin price near $76,500. The firm has not published the wallet address, a court judgment, or a detailed tracing report, so independent verification is not yet possible. Former users seeking recovery would still need to prove individual ownership through bank statements, exchange records, or emails connecting them to specific deposits and balances.
Chris said the loss was devastating because he had a young family and a new home at the time. He now plans to use part of the recovered value to help his family buy a larger home and help his son repay housing debt, while keeping some bitcoin in case the value rises further. The case highlights that assets lost through defunct exchanges are not always unrecoverable, provided both blockchain records and traditional financial evidence survive.
