A British bitcoin holder identified only as Chris has regained access to 61 BTC after losing contact with the funds for 12 years following the collapse of UK exchange Intersango. The recovered bitcoin is now valued at about £3.3 million, or $4.4 million, according to the law firm that handled the claim.

Chris bought the coins in 2011, when bitcoin was priced at roughly £0.16, or $0.22, and chose to keep them on Intersango, then known for pound-denominated bitcoin trading. When the exchange shut down in early 2014, customers were left unable to access their assets.

Investment trapped after exchange failure

Chris said his bitcoin holding had already more than doubled before access was lost. Rather than move the coins into a self-custody wallet, he kept them under the exchange’s control, a decision that became costly when Intersango ceased operating.

He described the experience as a long period of shock and disappointment as bitcoin’s value climbed while his funds remained inaccessible. Over time, he said, he stopped expecting that the coins would ever be returned.

Emails in 2018 were initially dismissed

Years after the shutdown, Chris began receiving emails in 2018 from Intersango’s founders asking former customers to get in touch. He did not act on them at first because he believed they might be scams.

He eventually approached CEL Solicitors after encouragement from his wife. The firm focuses on cases involving lost cryptocurrency and took on the effort to recover his claim.

Claim resolved through documents and negotiations

Ryan Sweetnam, director of financial litigation at CEL Solicitors, said the firm succeeded in recovering the 61 BTC. According to the account provided, the work took around four months.

The recovery process involved compiling and presenting documents to U.S. courts. It was described as a matter driven more by negotiation than by a drawn-out courtroom fight.

Recovery brings relief but not full confidence

Chris said his family reacted with amazement when he learned he once again had access to bitcoin worth more than £3.3 million. He added that he now checks the wallet about 20 times a day.

Even after the recovery, he said he remains cautious about exchange custody. While he noted that the wallet is accessible and the exchange is regulated, he also said that in his view nothing in crypto is fully regulated.

What the case shows next

The case offers a concrete example of how long claims linked to failed crypto platforms can remain unresolved, even when customers still have a paper trail. It also underlines the importance of verifying outreach tied to collapsed firms, especially when messages arrive years later and may resemble scams.

The next confirmed step in this case is straightforward: Chris has regained control of the bitcoin. Beyond that, the account does not indicate any broader court ruling or further action connected to the Intersango recovery.

Source: news.bitcoin.com