A British man recovered 61 Bitcoin after twelve years. A UK resident named Chris gained access to his lost assets. At the time the process was completed, the cryptocurrency was valued at approximately £3.3 million. The story was reported by LBC, citing an interview with the owner. The assets had remained on the defunct exchange Intersango for over a decade. The man had already considered his Bitcoin completely lost.
Chris purchased Bitcoin through the Intersango platform in 2011. The platform was previously known as Britcoin. The price of the first cryptocurrency was approximately £2.94 per coin. In late 2012, the exchange began winding down its operations. By early 2014, the website had ceased functioning entirely. Users were unable to withdraw funds and received no responses. The affected user discovered that his account was blocked when he attempted to recover his funds. At that point, the value of his Bitcoin stood at around four thousand pounds.
In the years that followed, the man made attempts to contact the owners. However, he ultimately concluded that the Bitcoin was irrecoverably lost. In January 2026, Chris approached the law firm CEL Solicitors. The company specializes in the recovery of digital assets. The lawyers were required to verify the client's ownership of the coins. Specialists obtained banking documents dating back nearly fifteen years. The man officially instructed the company to handle the case on January 20. The parties reached an agreement on May 28. The client was returned all 61 Bitcoin, valued at £3.33 million.
CEL Solicitors director Ryan Sweetenham noted the complexities of the process. The main obstacle was verifying the fact that the Bitcoin had been purchased. According to the company, more than 5,500 coins are associated with Intersango. These Bitcoin belonged to former clients of the defunct platform. Their potential value runs into hundreds of millions of pounds. Chris plans to sell a portion of the recovered Bitcoin to purchase a home. The man intends to hold the remaining assets long-term. The exchange Intersango was liquidated in the United Kingdom in 2016. Previously, IT engineer James Howells lost the opportunity to recover a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoin.