One Man Recovered 61 Bitcoin (4.8 million dollars) | Thousands Still Owed Half a Billion

A recent viral story on CoinDesk showcased a man going by the pseudonym ‘Chris’ who just collected 61 bitcoin he had been owed for 12 grueling years. If you read the articles you could be forgiven for thinking there is a happy ending here.

Court transcripts show Chris is merely one victim in an embezzlement scheme that continues to rob thousands of victims out of half a billion dollars in Bitcoin.

Almost no one has been paid, and the few that have been paid were only paid after immense pressure was placed on the perpetrator.

Patrick Strateman, a former CTO of Intersango, once the world’s second largest cryptocurrency exchange, used his access to perform what the industry calls an ‘exit scam’.

THE PRICE SPIKE, THEN THE RUG PULL

Intersango is often misreported as having closed in 2012. In truth, withdrawals were halted and clients were cut off en masse with no notice around January 1, 2014.

This happened right after Bitcoin’s late-2013 explosion. Within a span of 30 days, the price went from roughly $201 to $1,083 a coin. November 2013 remains Bitcoin’s largest calendar month on record, up about 537%.

Even though Bitcoin would go on to be considered one of the best investments of the last decade, that kind of multiple, in that span of time, has not happened since.

Seemingly overnight, the CTO found himself with exclusive access to millions and millions of dollars of client funds. In December, he limited withdrawals to 1 bitcoin a day, then to 0.2, and by January 1st, 2014, he pulled the plug entirely.

By now, the robbed Bitcoin has ballooned to around half a billion dollars.

RECENT AND CONTINUING COVER-UPS

Recent records showcase Strateman committing perjury in civil litigation by failing to disclose at least 2,722 Bitcoin he owed to clients.

Before being exposed, his attorney, in 2026 civil court fillings in San Francisco Superior Court, said his client’s figure of “3,462” Bitcoin represented “a near exact amount”.

Later transcripts called those answers “deceitful and untruthful” and showed another 2,722 Bitcoin missing from the record, on top of the 3,462.

Let’s do the math

3,462 + 2,722 = 6,184 Bitcoin.

At around $80,000 a pop, that comes out to around half a billion dollars in Bitcoin.

In other words, that’s what’s owed to thousands of victims and, even in the latest disclosures, Strateman was caught hiding well over $200 million worth of client Bitcoin.

And this figure represents a near minimum owed to clients.

What’s more, there has been no forensic analysis of the site database, and without FBI involvement, there likely never will be. In fact, the civil litigation which uncovered this embezzlement so many years on may end in an order to delete the only copy of the database that is not in the embezzler’s hands.

Embezzlement is often treated as an ongoing crime. This one is still in full swing. The cover-up and later concealment are continuing acts to keep victims from their coins, so the statute of limitations should not be the excuse.

So I ask again: Where is the FBI?

The evidence is already on a silver platter.

MEET THE VICTIMS

Many victims have signed legal declarations providing a treasure trove of evidence.

The evidence shows the same method again and again: stringing victim after victim along, sometimes for years, with false hope and empty promises.

Strateman preyed on their desperation.

Separating a husband and his pregnant wife

In one case, a gentleman who was expecting a child, needed to leave his pregnant wife and seek work abroad in order to support his new family.

Had he been paid his Bitcoin, he would not have had to do so.

Gaslighting a client with a dying mother

In another case, a client owed more than 180 Bitcoin pleaded for years for the return of his funds, even offering to travel from New Zealand to the US to resolve it.

During this time, the victim was nursing his dying mother and declares that she would have experienced far more comfort in her final days had he been paid the Bitcoin that was rightfully his.

Declarants range the full gamut of society from a school teacher to a single mother. One declarant, a student, found himself robbed of both his own and his friend’s bitcoin which he kept in his account. When the rug was pulled, he had to take on extra hours at his job in order to pay back his friend.

With thousands of victims, Chris, who finally had enough leverage to pressure the thief into returning his 61 Bitcoin, is a drop in the bucket, a person who may have become more expensive not to pay.

But where is justice for the thousands more?

Where is the FBI?

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