Bitcoin Lost 12 Years Ago Is Recovered, Now Worth $4.5 Million

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A British investor has recovered Bitcoin he lost 12 years ago, CoinDesk reported on September 5. The holdings were worth just $2,000 when they became inaccessible and have since surged roughly 2,250-fold to $4.5 million.

U.K. law firm CEL Solicitors said it recently succeeded in helping an investor known by the pseudonym "Chris" recover Bitcoin he had bought through the former British digital-asset exchange Intersango.

Chris first purchased Bitcoin in December 2011 through Britcoin, a U.K. exchange. Britcoin later changed its name to Intersango, halted trading in late 2012 and fully shut down in early 2014.

Chris is said to have invested about 1,500 pounds, or $2,000, at the time. The value of those holdings later climbed to $5,400, but he lost access to the assets after the exchange stopped operating. "The hardest part was watching Bitcoin keep rising and thinking about what I could have done with that money," he said.

CEL Solicitors said it found a wallet believed to hold assets belonging to Intersango users by using digital-asset tracing software from its sister company, The Crypto Tracing Experts. The wallet contains more than 5,500 Bitcoin, worth about $421 million at current prices.

Chris recovered about 59 Bitcoin, the report said. That holding is now worth about $4.5 million. Bitcoin was trading below $4 each when he first bought it and was recently changing hands at about $76,500.