Man who ‘threw away’ $140m of Bitcoin wants to dig up landfill site

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Ina person named Satoshi Nakamoto published a paper called Bitcoin: The paper discussed a peer-to-peer version of electronic cash, which could be used in a transaction without the interference of a middleman. InBitcoin was still just a small and widely unknown currency. However, fast forward to today, and it is one of the most sought-after products in the world.

However, one dire mistake caused him to lose that multimillion-dollar fortune. Howells had always been interested in computers and learned about Bitcoin early in its existence. He took an interest in the new cryptocurrency and began looking into it more. Howells was one of the first Bitcoin miners. Pioneer Bitcoin Miner Howells was one of the first people to begin mining for Bitcoin.

His search began inshortly after the open-source software was released to the public. For those people who do not understand IT terms, Bitcoin may be a little hard to comprehend. Bitcoin is a digital currency.

Therefore, there are fewer fees. In Mayhe wrote on a Bitcoin Forum, that he man throws away hard drive with bitcoin like to offer 10, bitcoins to pay for 2 pizza. It became a hobby for him. However, one day, his girlfriend at the time got fed up with it. Since the beginning of his search, he had mined 7, bitcoins. The key to access the coins was stored on his hard drive.

Broke His Computer One day Howells accidentally spilled lemonade on his computer. However, I kept the hard drive in a drawer at home knowing it contained my Bitcoin private keys so that if Bitcoin did become valuable one day I would still have the coins I had mined. Man throws away hard drive with bitcoin had a feeling one day Bitcoin would explode. He left the hard drive in his drawer for 3 years. It was a safe place for his stored information, which included the Bitcoins.

However, 3 years is a long time, and things can easily be forgotten. Life went on for Howells. As he had other matters to deal with, the hard drive remained in the drawer collecting dust.

Like many people do after collecting years of stuff, he decided it was time to get rid of some old equipment. Up untilthe price of one Bitcoin remained relatively low. However, that all changed in and by the end of the year, Bitcoin saw a surge in worth. However, the craze had caught on, and the price was only going to continue to rise. He realized his 7, Bitcoins, which were now worth a substantial fortune, were now in the trash and gone from his possession.

Frantically, Searches For a Possible Backup With the discovery of his possible lost fortune, Howells did man throws away hard drive with bitcoin he could in hopes of man throws away hard drive with bitcoin his coin.

He believed he may have backed up his hard drive on random files. Sadly, that search ended quickly as he found nothing. So he made his way to the only next possible option he could think of — the landfill.

Unfortunately, when he arrived, any hope he had left quickly vanished. He recounted his arrival to BBC. The manager further explained that it is possible to search for things in the landfill. However, a team of upwards of 20 people with full-protective gear normally work on the dig.

He did not have the money in order to fund such an undertaking. It was back to the drawing board. How could Man throws away hard drive with bitcoin finance a dig in search of his lost fortune? Every day the regret of that mistake grows larger and larger. Over the past few year prices of Bitcoins have more than exploded.

However, despite the long timeline, Howells never gave up hope and recently came up with a new plan. Appeals To The City Council Along with the risk of just digging, man throws away hard drive with bitcoin is also illegal to dig in a landfill. Therefore, Howells began seeking permission from the local city authorities. However, the council turned down his request for permission.

Therefore, Howells came back with a rebuttal to their response. The council has told the individual concerned on several occasions that excavation is not possible under our licensing man throws away hard drive with bitcoin, added to the fact excavation itself would have a huge environmental impact on the surrounding area.

Although Howells sees this as another reason for the City Council to jump on board, the council sees it as the opposite. Howells said he knew his time spent in would pay off. I just get on with it. Potential Treasure Hunters Beware Most people may now be wondering if they can somehow find the landfill and search for Howells lost hard drive. Unfortunately, the answer is no. You would be committing a criminal offense.

Furthermore, even if one did find the hard drive, it is encrypted. Campbell Simpson, an editor at Gizmodorecently proclaimed, he too threw out a hard drive with over 1, bitcoins. Last year, the U. Many outdoor lovers agree that nature should be someplace where you unplug from technology, but there is possibly an exception. The city is already home to more than 8 million trees and An announcement was recently made by the Trump administration highlighting the intention to revise the fuel-efficiency regulations put in Prev Post Next Post.

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Bitcoins are a hot commodity. However, unlike banks, they are not regulated. If your bank account is hacked, or you lose your debit card, or you forget your online banking information- — you can still access your funds.

If a Bitcoin owner passes away without giving their private key password to someone else, those bitcoins die with them. They will remain in the cloud. They will never be able to be spent. It's not hard to think that at some point hackers will acquire the technology to crack those private keys. That's actually pretty unlikely. Bitcoin uses a bit key.

Even an enormous computer using all of the energy the sun gives off could not calculate the number of possible combinations, even if the computer had several decades to do so. In other words, lost bitcoins stay lost.

The hard drive ended up in a soccer field sized landfill in Wales buried beneath tons of recyclable waste. Howells reportedly threw away the hard drive by accident when he was cleaning up his desk.

I really did have that. I don't have an exact date, the only time period I can give—and I've been racking my own brains—is between June 20 th and August 10 th. Bitcoin was founded in Howells ran a program for using the digital currency on his laptop for about a week that made the laptop too hot and noisy to use.

In , Howells' laptop broke so he took it apart for parts. Most of the parts were thrown out or sold, but he kept the hard drive for three years. Amy Lamare is a Los Angeles based writer covering business, technology, entertainment, philanthropy, and pop culture.

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