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Man Throws Away Valuable Bitcoin Equipment, Looks to Dig Up Landfill to Retrieve It
James Howells is claiming that his laptop hard drive that may or may not function now could be worth more than $80 million, and he is looking to dig up a landfill to retrieve it.
1 Min Read
James Howells, a British IT worker and an early investor in Bitcoin, became interested in the cryptocoin economy in 2009, but his girlfriend made him stop dabbling in the industry after he amassed around 7,500 bitcoin, which was worth little to nothing at the time.
Howells ended up selling most of the equipment he was using for scrap, but the hard drive containing the key to his digital wallet ended up in a landfill.
Now, Howells is claiming that his laptop hard drive that may or may not function now could be worth more than $80 million, and he is looking to dig up a landfill to retrieve it.
Gizmodo has more details:
James Howells is a British IT worker and an early investor in Bitcoin. He also has every right to be the most furious man on Earth.
You see, Howells got in on the ground floor of the cryptocoin economy back in February of 2009. Through his computational labors, he amassed around 7,500 bitcoin before his girlfriend, fed up with the noise of block-mining hardware, made him stop. No great loss—the Silk Road was two years away and bitcoin was worth next to nothing.
Most of the equipment he was using was sold for scrap after he spilled lemonade on it, and the hard drive containing the key to his digital wallet sat in a drawer for three years before passing into its final resting place: the trash.
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