A British investor identified only as “Chris” has recovered 61 Bitcoin worth £3.3 million after a 12-year legal battle to reclaim cryptocurrency he lost access to when the Intersango exchange collapsed in 2014. The recovery, completed in May 2026, marks a landmark achievement in cryptocurrency asset recovery and signals new hope for thousands of other users locked out of early exchange accounts.
Chris originally purchased his first Bitcoin in December 2011 through Britcoin, which was then renamed Intersango—the UK’s first Bitcoin exchange. His initial investment of £1,500 grew as the price of Bitcoin climbed, but he lost access to his wallet when Intersango went offline in early 2014 and subsequently dissolved in March 2016.
Legal firm CEL Solicitors successfully traced and recovered the Bitcoin using specialist crypto-tracing software through its sister company, The Crypto Tracing Experts. The recovery process, which began in January 2026, required gathering vital documents and bank records from nearly 15 years prior to verify Chris’s original purchase and ownership claim.
Ryan Sweetnam, director of financial litigation at CEL Solicitors, explained the complexity of the case: “When it comes to recovering crypto assets, the path to repatriation is never straightforward. In the case of Intersango, gathering vital documents and the verification of legitimate claims was challenging after so many years. A significant hurdle in this case was obtaining bank records from almost 15 years ago to evidence proof of purchase, but it is possible.”
The recovery came after a 10-year legal battle between Intersango’s co-founders over the handling of users’ Bitcoin. Through court proceedings, Intersango LLC acknowledged that it continues to hold Bitcoin belonging to the platform’s original users, paving the way for repatriation efforts.
CEL Solicitors has identified approximately 5,500 additional Bitcoin—potentially worth hundreds of millions of pounds—held in a wallet that may belong to other Intersango users. Sweetnam urged other former users to come forward, saying: “Hundreds of millions of pounds is still sitting in a wallet capable of being returned. 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.”
For Chris, the recovery transformed a financial loss that had weighed on him for over a decade. When Intersango collapsed, his wallet—which had grown from his initial £1,500 to about £4,000—became inaccessible at a time when his family faced financial pressures. He remained silent about the loss for years, reluctant to discuss the growing value of Bitcoin as he watched the price rise without access to his holdings.
The case reflects broader challenges in cryptocurrency recovery. Estimates suggest that between 3 and 4 million Bitcoin are lost forever, locked in wallets whose owners no longer have access to private keys or recovery information. However, advances in blockchain tracing and legal precedent around proving ownership have made recovery possible in cases involving exchange failures and defunct platforms.
This recovery echoes a comparable precedent: Mt. Gox, the Japanese Bitcoin exchange that collapsed in 2014 after a major hack, began repaying creditors in 2024—a decade after its bankruptcy filing. That case demonstrated that even large-scale exchange failures can eventually lead to asset recovery, though the process is lengthy and requires sustained legal effort.
Sources
- Business Cloud — detailed account of Chris’s recovery, the Intersango collapse, and CEL Solicitors’ role; quotes from Ryan Sweetnam
- Blockonomi / Netdania — confirmation of 61 Bitcoin recovery worth £3.3 million, Intersango exchange collapse in 2014, legal battle details
- KuCoin / Binance — reporting on recovery completion in May 2026, original £1,500 investment in 2011
- LBC — Chris’s personal account of the loss and its emotional impact on his family
- Ledger Academy — context on Bitcoin loss mechanisms and recovery requirements
- CNBC — Mt. Gox repayment precedent, beginning in 2024 after decade-long bankruptcy process
