A crypto bigwig dropped $1.5M on a watch from the Titanic as a gift for his wife

The buyer of the most expensive piece of Titanic memorabilia ever sold has been identified as former FTX Europe head Patrick Gruhn.

• FTX's former head of Europe bought the most expensive Titanic relic ever auctioned.
• The gold watch sold for $1.5 million, and belonged to John Jacob Astor IV. 
• Gruhn bought the timepiece for $1.5 million, and plans to exhibit it in US museums, he told the WSJ.

The buyer of a gold-plated pocket watch owned by a wealthy Titanic passenger has been identified as former FTX executive Patrick Gruhn.

The timepiece sold at auction Saturday for roughly $1.5 million, the highest price a piece of Titanic memorabilia has ever fetched.

Gruhn is a German crypto law veteran who formerly served as the head of FTX Europe. The Wall Street Journal was first he was the watch's new owner.

Gruhn told Business Insider he wanted the watch because he felt a sense of connection with its owner, John Jacob Astor IV, the richest man aboard the ill-fated ship and one of the titans of industry in the 1910s.

Gruhn said his family, like the Astors, has German roots and found success in America. He purchased the watch as a gift for his wife. They met the same year the movie premiered, he told BI, and she has long been fascinated by the Titanic.

Gruhn added he wants "to ensure that this important piece of history remains in the United States where it belongs."

The Waltham watch is engraved with Astor's initials, and was found on his body when it was recovered a week after the crash, according to auction house Henry Aldridge & Son.

Astor, who died at 47, helped his pregnant wife (who would survive) onto a lifeboat and was last seen smoking a cigarette on deck as the ship sank.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said in a statement that auction prices of pieces like the watch reflect the "enduring appeal" of Titanic lore.

"112 years later, we are still talking about the ship, and the passengers and the crew," he said.

Gruhn told BI he bought the watch with money from the sale of two IT companies he sold in 2006 and 2014.

Gruhn is now readying the launch of a new crypto trading venue called Perpetuals, and said he plans to restart FTX Europe under a different name.

Gruhn said he wasn't interviewed by any law enforcement agencies or regulators about the FTX implosion, which led to former executive Sam Bankman-Fried being convicted of fraud and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

"From all the facts it was clear that FTX Europe did not and couldn't know about the fraud from SBF," he said.