A British investor, identified as Chris, recovered 61 Bitcoin valued at $4.4 million after a 12-year legal battle stemming from the 2014 collapse of Intersango, a UK-based exchange.
Chris purchased the 61 BTC in 2011 on a friend's conviction that Bitcoin would become significant. At the time, Bitcoin traded between $0.22 and $21.63. He deposited the coins on Intersango, an unlicensed platform offering pound-based trading, rather than moving them to self-custody.
When Intersango shut down in early 2014 without FCA authorization, Chris lost access to his holdings. The position had more than doubled in value by then. He watched Bitcoin's price climb over the following years and eventually wrote off the investment.
In 2018, Intersango's founders began contacting former customers. Chris initially treated the outreach as a scam but was persuaded by his wife to investigate. He engaged CEL Solicitors, a firm specializing in cryptocurrency recovery.
Ryan Sweetnam, Director of Financial Litigation at CEL Solicitors, negotiated the recovery. The firm spent four months compiling documents and submitting filings to U.S. courts. The funds were ultimately returned to Chris.
Chris said his family's reaction was shock upon learning he had recovered over 3.3 million pounds. He now checks his wallet approximately 20 times daily.
He remains cautious about the regulatory gaps in crypto custody. "You never know what might happen because although the wallet's there and the exchange that I'm with is regulated, nothing really is regulated for crypto," he said. The recovery underscores why self-custody remains the industry standard for investors holding substantial positions—third-party platforms, even regulated ones today, carry counterparty risk that is difficult to quantify.
