WSJ: Former head of FTX's European operations acquires Titanic victim's gold pocket watch for about $1.5 million

ChainCatcher news, German fintech entrepreneur and former head of European operations for cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Patrick Gruhn, purchased a gold pocket watch that survived the sinking of the Titanic for a staggering £1.175 million (approximately $1.5 million) last Saturday, setting a record for the highest auction price for Titanic-related artifacts.

It is reported that this 14K gold pocket watch originally belonged to one of the wealthiest passengers on the Titanic, American real estate magnate John Jacob Astor IV. After placing his wife in a lifeboat, Astor chose to go down with the Titanic. On the night of the incident, he was seen smoking on deck until the ship sank into the icy Atlantic. A week later, salvage workers discovered the watch, engraved with his initials, on Astor's body, and remarkably, it was still ticking.

According to the auction house Henry Aldridge & Son, Gruhn purchased the pocket watch as a gift for his wife, Maren Gruhn. They plan to exhibit this historical artifact in a museum in the United States, allowing the public to admire it.

It is worth mentioning that Gruhn was the head of European operations under FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). At the end of 2022, SBF was arrested on fraud charges, leading to the bankruptcy of FTX. Gruhn stated that he was unaware of SBF's fraudulent activities before the collapse of FTX. He used the proceeds from the sale of the European operations to purchase the pocket watch. Currently, Gruhn has established a new cryptocurrency derivatives exchange in Europe and operates a German Catholic television network.