In 2011, he invested 1,500 pounds and 61 bitcoins once disappeared for more than a decade
According to reports by foreign media (LBC), a bitcoin ($BTC) that was believed to be long unrecoverable was returned to its original holder after nearly 15 years. A UK man named Chris bought 61 bitcoins through an early local bitcoin exchange, Britcoin, in 2011. The platform later changed its name to Intersango and shut down, leaving him unable to withdraw his assets for a long time. It wasn’t until 2026, when he instructed lawyers and an asset-tracing team to intervene, that he managed to recover all the bitcoins.
Chris was influenced at the time by a friend who was interested in the stock market, who believed bitcoin might have development potential, so he put in about 1,500 pounds to buy coins. At that time, the price of bitcoin was still only in single digits in pounds, and the purchase price for each bitcoin was about 2.94 pounds. However, Intersango began experiencing operational problems starting at the end of 2012, and by early 2014 the website was no longer functioning properly. When Chris tried to withdraw, the value of the bitcoins in his account had increased to about 4,000 pounds, but the platform did not respond to his withdrawal request.
At the time, Intersango also did not obtain authorization from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), making it difficult for Chris to recover the assets through ordinary financial consumer protection mechanisms. After years of attempts, he gradually came to believe that the bitcoins could no longer be recovered.
In 2018, he received an email from the founder, but it was deleted by him as a scam
This case also had an unexpected twist. Chris had received an email in 2018 from a former operator of Intersango, but since the exchange had stopped operating for many years, he suspected it might be related to online fraud and deleted it right away. Only afterward did he learn that the email may indeed have come from the platform’s founder.
As the price of bitcoin rose rapidly over the following years, the 61 bitcoins that were originally worth thousands of pounds gradually became an asset worth millions. Chris said it was extremely difficult to watch the bitcoin price keep climbing while he still couldn’t get his assets back, and later he even stopped paying attention to the coin’s price.
The turning point didn’t come until 2026. Encouraged by his wife, Chris found the UK law firm CEL Solicitors in January and hoped to have this long-forgotten asset investigated again.
The biggest challenge is how to prove that these 61 bitcoins truly belong to Chris. CEL Solicitors had to reorganize bank records from nearly 15 years ago, bitcoin purchase evidence, and documents related to ownership, and also consult court records from related litigation in the United States, before confirming the bitcoin wallets associated with Intersango through asset tracking.
Recovered all 61 bitcoins in four months—its value skyrocketed to £3.33 million
On January 20, 2026, Chris officially instructed CEL Solicitors to handle the case. The two sides ultimately reached a settlement on May 28, and all 61 bitcoins were successfully returned. It took only about four months from the formal instruction to recovering the assets.
CEL Solicitors said that, judging from the case’s transaction records from nearly 15 years ago, a collapsed exchange, and cross-border legal documents, the speed of completing the matter in four months was quite rare.
When the 61 bitcoins were returned, their valuation reached £3.33 million, or about $3.86 million. Compared with the £1,500 Chris initially invested, the pound-denominated value had increased by more than 2,200 times.
In the end, the case built an asset claim through historical records, ownership documents, and court information, and then reached a settlement through negotiation, allowing Chris to successfully get his bitcoins back.
Chris said the plan was to sell some of the recovered bitcoins to buy a larger home and improve the living space for a family member with a physical and mental disability. Most of the remaining bitcoins would be kept.
Intersango is still believed to be involved with more than 5,500 bitcoins, and other users may also be able to pursue claims
This case may be only part of Intersango’s asset recovery efforts. Britcoin was founded in early 2011, and was later registered in the UK under the name Intersango Ltd. At one point, it became one of the larger early bitcoin trading platforms worldwide, but it began to run into trouble by the end of 2012. In 2014, the website shut down, leaving many users unable to withdraw their assets.
CEL Solicitors said that, based on tracking results, the wallets associated with Intersango may still hold more than 5,500 bitcoins, and some of the assets are believed to belong to customers of the former platform. Previous related records suggest that the affected accounts may number over 5,000.
Whether the remaining bitcoins can be returned to former users still depends on the specifics of each case. Other investors who want to pursue the assets need to provide sufficient purchase records and proof of ownership, and handle the matter through legal proceedings or negotiations as appropriate.
Chris’s case also differs from that of James Howells, another British man known for “lost bitcoin.” Howells accidentally discarded a hard drive containing private keys, and about 8,000 bitcoins still cannot be retrieved. In Chris’s situation, his assets remain on-chain; the main issue is that he lost control after the exchange stopped operating.
Nearly 15 years later, the bank transaction records from that time, court documents, and the on-chain traces left on the blockchain ultimately became key evidence for Chris to prove ownership of the assets—also bringing back to himself an early bitcoin investment of about £1,500.
Related news: The man who found huge amounts of bitcoin in a landfill loses his lawsuit! Still not giving up: “I still have a way to save it.”
This article is generated by a crypto agent that aggregates information from various parties, with (encrypted city) reviewed and edited. It is still in the training phase, so there may be logical bias or informational errors. The content is for reference only and should not be considered investment advice.
“Exchange collapses, bitcoin sealed for 15 years! A British man gets back £3.86 million worth of bitcoin by fighting in court”—this article was first published by “Crypto City.”