A British resident has regained access to 61 bitcoins worth approximately $4.76 million, assets that had been inaccessible since 2014.
The individual, identified as Chris, acquired the cryptocurrency in 2011 for £1,500 (about $2,000) through one of the earliest British crypto exchanges, Intersango. In 2014, when the platform ceased operations, his account was frozen. At that time, the value of his assets was £4,000.
Chris stated that over a decade he had monitored bitcoin’s exchange rate but considered the funds irretrievable. In 2018, he ignored emails from the exchange’s co-founders, mistakenly identifying them as fraudulent activity. This month, on advice from his wife, Chris contacted law firm CEL Solicitors, which specializes in cryptocurrency asset recovery. Lawyers prepared documents confirming ownership, and the case was settled in his favor on May 28.
As of September 3, bitcoin’s exchange rate stood at approximately $78,000 per coin, making the total value of Chris’s holdings around $4.76 million. The individual plans to sell some assets for a new home and a family vacation.
Meanwhile, other investors who lost cryptocurrency access during early market development face similar challenges. Since 2013, British engineer James Howells has attempted without success to locate a hard drive in Wales containing keys to approximately 7,500 bitcoins. Similarly, programmer Stefan Thomas lost the password to a data drive that holds access to an estimated 7,002 bitcoins.
Reports indicate that Howells has ceased efforts to recover his bitcoins, now valued at around 76 billion rubles. Despite offering shares of the funds and proposing to buy the entire storage device, all attempts to retrieve the cryptocurrency have been rejected.
