Man throws away 8000 bitcoins

More than ten years ago, James Howells, who was into early cryptocurrency investments, mistakenly threw away 8,000 Bitcoins.

Now, a landfill in South Wales where he thinks those Bitcoins might be buried is heavily guarded to keep out people hoping to find them.

The mess began when Howells’s partner threw out a hard drive holding the keys to access the bitcoins by accident. The value of these lost digital coins could hit £1.5 billion by year-end.

Retrieving the hard drive means digging through 100,000 tonnes of waste at the Newport Household Waste Recycling Centre. But the council has refused Howells permission to do so, saying it’s too difficult to locate amid the huge landfill.

€10 million offered to find them

Howells offered the council £10 million to let him search, determined to find it, even considering legal action against the council. He believes the hard drive could be worth a fortune, especially if Bitcoin’s value keeps rising.

The council seems unwilling to help, but Howells won’t give up. He thinks it’s unfair that the council wants him to forget about his lost property when it could be worth so much.