Brit recovers lost Bitcoin fortune

A British man has become a multi-millionaire after successfully recovering Bitcoin worth £3million that he ‘lost’ over a decade ago. This landmark achievement, revealed by legal firm CEL Solicitors, comes as scores of other UK investors are also set to finally cash in. The man, wishing to remain anonymous, originally purchased his first Bitcoin in December 2011, when it was valued at only £2.94. The transaction took place through Britcoin, the UK’s first Bitcoin exchange, which was later renamed Intersango.

He lost access to his crypto wallet following the collapse of Intersango, but recently had the full amount returned to him at the current market rate. He recalled the traumatic experience, saying, “The worst thing was seeing Bitcoin grow and knowing what I could have done with the money. I haven’t had much work in the last few years, my son got married, my father-in-law passed away so my wife had to quit work to look after her mum.” Chris detailed the significant pressures he felt, explaining, “When I lost access to the wallet it was a big shock and quite devastating, because we weren’t in a great financial position.”

With the Bitcoin now valued at £3,331,618.45, Chris became a multi-millionaire overnight thanks to the efforts of CEL Solicitors. He expressed the profound changes the money could bring to his life, stating, “We’ve never struggled but we’ve never been able to live the life that we want to live.” He plans to upgrade to a bigger house to accommodate his mother-in-law and aims to help his son with loans on his new home.

Chris is also cautious about the future of cryptocurrency, admitting, “I want to keep some Bitcoin to see if the value rises again but if I do it does make me nervous in case it goes down.” He remained aware of the risks involved, saying, “There are still a lot of scammers around. You can be hacked and all the money's gone.” Ryan Sweetnam, Director of Financial Litigation at CEL Solicitors, shared insight into the complexities of cryptocurrency recovery, stating, “When it comes to recovering crypto assets, the path to repatriation is never straightforward.”

Intersango and Britcoin attracted many users, but the latter faced significant operational challenges by late 2012, ceasing sterling and US dollar trading. By 2014, the site was down, and users struggled to withdraw their funds as the value of Bitcoin massively increased. Intersango Ltd was dissolved in 2016, leaving countless users without recourse to their cryptocurrency investments.

Through its sister company, The Crypto Tracing Experts, CEL Solicitors employed specialist crypto-tracing software to identify a wallet believed to hold over 5,500 Bitcoin belonging to Intersango users. Sweetnam noted, “Hundreds of millions of pounds is still sitting in a wallet capable of being returned.” He encouraged others affected, saying, “We urge anyone who lost Bitcoin because of the closing of Britcoin or Intersango to get in touch. Recovery is possible and, as in the case of this client, it could be life changing." This case follows a decade-long legal dispute regarding the management of users’ Bitcoin by Intersango’s co-founders, who have now admitted in court that they retain Bitcoin belonging to original users.