The Millionaire Who Threw It All Away: Bitcoin On A Landfill

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On gloomy winter afternoons, it can be hard not to ponder over chances that were missed – if only I had foreseen the GameStop surge, grasped the concept of NFTs earlier, or heeded that YouTube advice to invest a dollar in Bitcoin back then? For James Howells, those ‘what-ifs’ turned into his lived experience. A pioneer in his field, he squandered it all due to one of the most tragic turns of events. Here’s everything you should know about his tale.

Needle in the Hay

Back in mid-2013, a British computer engineer was among the select few who recognized the enormous potential of Bitcoin. He purchased approximately 8,000 units of this cryptocurrency for only $130 per unit – a sum that today is widely regarded as an excellent deal.

Despite his extraordinary intellect, Howell overlooked one significant event: his girlfriend mistaking the hard drive with his Bitcoins for garbage and discarding it. This valuable hard drive, worth over a million dollars, was sent to a landfill in Newport, Wales. Upon discovering the landfill as the location of the computer engineer’s wealth, he promptly contacted authorities and asked them to scour the waste pile in search of his hard drive.

The Search Begins

However, the search was never initiated. For a span of 12 years, officials consistently barred the 39-year-old from the landfill. Just this month, they asserted that there’s no practical chance of him locating the hard drive, and also stated that since he discarded it, the state now owns it.

In a scenario where one Bitcoin is approximately $90,000, and a hard drive is valued at around $750 million, Howell has left no stone unturned in his relentless pursuit. He put forth an offer to the city, promising it 10% of the hard drive’s value, implying that Newport would resemble Las Vegas if he had found it. Moreover, he was willing to fund the search himself and suggested employing AI, believing it would virtually assure success. Regrettably, none of his arguments have yielded fruitful results thus far. Undeterred, he now intends to escalate the case to the UK’s Supreme Court, marking a continuation of his determined journey.

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2025-01-13 15:39