Hey there fellow gamers, let me share a story that hits close to home for any of us who’ve ever regretted tossing something out. You know, like when you get rid of an old game console thinking you don’t need it anymore, only to realize later that it was worth a fortune? That’s exactly what happened to a guy named James Howells from Newport, Wales.
In 2013, he casually tossed out an encrypted hard drive, mistaking it for another device. What he didn’t know was that this hard drive contained the private key for 8,000 Bitcoins – worth around 600 US dollars back then. But as you might have guessed, the value of Bitcoin skyrocketed over time. By now, those 8,000 Bitcoins are estimated to be worth a whopping 6 million dollars! Ouch, talk about a painful lesson learned!
Did he try to find it?
Indeed, he made an effort to retrieve the valuable hard drive, as its worth had significantly increased by then. However, the challenge lay in its location – it was hidden deep beneath layers of waste, approximately three to five feet down within the Docksway landfill in Newport.
On multiple occasions, Howells tried to secure entry into the landfill in order to retrieve his cryptocurrency. As the value of the lost wallet skyrocketed, he gathered a group of specialists to find and recover the hard drive. Additionally, he repeatedly requested permission from Newport City Council to access the site and even suggested they receive a portion of the missing Bitcoin if it was discovered, but he encountered no success.
The legal attempt came to nothing
Following numerous attempts to negotiate with Newport City Council, Howells ultimately chose to file a lawsuit against them, seeking either permission to use the landfill or a compensation amounting to approximately 600 million dollars (L495 million). However, in early January 2025, the High Court rejected his claim, stating that there was neither a solid basis for the demand nor a viable chance of success at trial.
In my perspective as a passionate enthusiast, once my old hard drive ended up in the landfill, according to existing laws, it instantly became the council’s property. However, due to environmental permits, any attempt to dig up that site is strictly prohibited. This is because, upon excavation, there’s a potential risk of releasing harmful substances into our precious environment.
Thus concludes the tale of James Howell’s one-million-dollar hard drive saga. Now, it lies entombed beneath layers of foul-smelling refuse, and regrettably, his options for recovery appear to be rather limited.
- tech
- Bitcoin / BTC / cryptocurrency
- crypto
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2025-01-17 14:31