"Thought It Was Gone Forever"... Bitcoin Lost in Exchange Shutdown Turns into $4.5 Million Windfall After 12 Years

Unable to access Bitcoin after exchange closed in 2011

Recovered 59 BTC after long search; value up about 2,250 times

The story of a British investor who reclaimed Bitcoin thought to have been lost following the closure of an exchange 12 years ago has been making headlines. The investment—which was worth only $2,000 (269,000 won) at the time—has now grown to $4.5 million (6,038,550,000 won).

On September 6, cryptocurrency-focused media outlet CoinDesk reported that “a British investor recently regained access to Bitcoin that had been inaccessible for 12 years.”

According to British law firm CEL Solicitors, the investor—known by the pseudonym “Chris”—recently recovered Bitcoin purchased through the now-defunct UK cryptocurrency exchange Intersango.

Chris first bought Bitcoin in December 2011 through the UK cryptocurrency exchange Britcoin. Britcoin later rebranded as Intersango, which suspended trading at the end of 2012 and shut down completely in early 2014.

The amount Chris invested at the time was about $2,000 (269,000 won). The value of his holdings eventually rose to $5,400 (725,000 won), but when the exchange ceased operations, he lost access to his Bitcoin.

Chris said, “The hardest part was watching the price of Bitcoin keep rising and thinking about what I could have done with that money.”

CEL Solicitors used the crypto tracking software of its sister company, The Crypto Tracing Experts, to identify a wallet believed to be holding assets belonging to former Intersango users.

This wallet was found to contain more than 5,500 Bitcoins, amounting to about $421 million (565.2 billion won) at current value.

The Bitcoin Chris recovered amounts to around 59 coins, currently valued at about $4.5 million (6,038,550,000 won). Over 12 years, the value has multiplied roughly 2,250 times. When Chris first purchased Bitcoin, the price per coin was less than $4; recently, it has been trading around $79,000.

Chris told the media, “I was able to help my son pay off part of the mortgage on his new house,” adding, “While I’d like to hold on to some, given there’s a chance the price may rise further, I do worry about the risk of prices dropping.” He continued, “Although regulation on some investment products has increased, crypto assets are still largely unregulated.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.