British guy throws Bitcoin hard drive with 7500 BTC on the trash

When cleaning your home, sometimes something accidentally ends up in the trash. Such a loss can be a natural worm. If, for example, a box of old photos is spilled, that’s stupid. But as much as James Howells (32) has never been annoyed anyone.

Because: The computer scientist from Wales threw whopping 81 million euros in the form of Bitcoins away! Now he wants to dig up the local garbage dump in search of his old hard disk – but his hometown is still transversely.

The story begins in 2009 when the very first Bitcoins were created and Howells was one of the pioneers. Mining (providing its computer to add new blocks to the decentralized Bitcoin database) was possible in the early stages of the crypto currency with limited computational power. Howells mixed in with his normal Dell laptop.

As a reward, he received 50 Bitcoins per block. He created 150 blocks and collected 7500 bitcoins for it.

Then it was enough for him. He unscrewed the calculator and sold the components on Ebay. Only the hard disk with the private keys for his Bitcoins he carefully stored in a drawer. “In case the digital coins should rise in value,” he told the British Telegraph.

But in 2013, his million-mishap happened to him: When he mucked out, stupidly also landed the hard drive in the bin. That was already annoying at the time, because at the end of 2013 the Bitcoin price went up steeply. In November Howells could have had up to 870 euros for a single coin.

And now he wants to finally get it: But the way to the hard drive is long and grubby. He leads through four-year-old garbage. And the first obstacle is the city administration.

So far, his hometown Newport denied him the digging. It is impossible to get to the plate, say the bureaucrats. Rummaging all the garbage meant a foul pollution and was far too expensive. In addition, the disk is probably now anyway.

Howells contradicts: The data on the plate could certainly be reconstructed. And even if it really would be quite expensive to dig up the trash – the search would be worthwhile. Private investors stand ready to fund the action, and if it succeeds, it will also ring in the box office of the city. Howells Incentive: Half of all Bitcoins are yours!