James Howells: The Incredible Story of Lost Bitcoins 💾💸

You've lost your car keys before and it was a drama, right? Or your smartphone on a Saturday night? What if I told you there's a guy who lost a digital treasure of astronomical value in a public landfill? This is James Howells' story a slightly too distracted Brit.

How James Discovered Bitcoin

The story begins long ago in 2009, at a time when Bitcoin wasn't yet the crypto superstar we know today, but rather a small project for geeks and visionaries. It was at this time that James Howells, a young IT engineer, buys 7,500 BTC at a discount. The guy was probably like: "Yeah, one day it might be worth something, or not. It's pretty cool to have digital stuff in a secret file, right?" Well, he was right. But instead of keeping his precious Bitcoins on a super secure USB key, or in a nicely organized crypto wallet, James had the brilliant idea to store them on a hard drive. Why not, after all, a hard drive is solid, it's practical… It's mostly small and easy to lose.

James Howells' Fatal Mistake

We don't really know why, but one day, James Howells decided that his hard drive was a bit too bulky and did what anyone would do in that kind of situation: he threw it away. Or rather, he put it in a pile of electronic waste before sending it to a landfill in Newport, Wales. And there, it was gone… kind of like a movie scene where everything goes wrong. 7,500 BTC were then worth a handful of dollars, but as the years passed and Bitcoin exploded in value, James suddenly realized he had made a huge mistake. The value of his 7,500 BTC soared, and he found himself with the regret of his life: a hard drive full of crypto, but lost forever in a landfill. 😱

The Hard Drive Odyssey: James vs. The Landfill

In 2013, as Bitcoin was starting to take off (we're talking hundreds of millions of dollars at that point), James had a brilliant idea: why not dig through the landfill looking for his precious hard drive? Actually he's furious! The problem is we're not talking about a small village dump but a huge public landfill filled with industrial and electronic waste, the kind where they move things with heavy machinery like excavators.

James Howells then embarked on an epic mission to recover his hard drive, a bit like Indiana Jones, but geekier and without a whip. He even proposed to the city of Newport a well-crafted plan to finance the search with part of the profits from recovered Bitcoins.

But there, the local authorities weren't exactly thrilled at the idea of turning the landfill into an archaeological dig site. And Newport's mayor, not at all a fan of archaeological digs, refused his project. Why? Because, according to him, the environmental risks were too great, and the waste buried in this landfill represented a threat to public safety. In short, it all ended like a digital pirate's dream: categorical refusal to dig the landfill and zero Bitcoin recovered.

Where is James Howells Today? Has He Finally Given Up?

James Howells won't let go, like a dog with his bone ^^. Every year, he reiterates his request and tries to convince the city to give him access to the landfill. In 2020, he even proposed to fund a team specialized in searching for hard drives in a landfill. (apparently that's a job that exists…) He wanted to send robots and drones to dig through the landfill's bowels to recover his hard drive without polluting and safely. And even with all this cutting-edge technology, the city of Newport has always refused.

James therefore finds himself living in a parallel world, where every day is a new reminder of his great loss. If one day he finds his hard drive, he'll probably have enough Bitcoins to buy the whole city, or at least, a new ultra-secure hard drive. 😉

Moral: Losing Your Bitcoins is More Than a Simple Mistake!

Actually being so close to being a billionaire and so far at the same time can't be easy. It's like winning the lottery and misplacing your winning ticket. Personally I don't know about you but I'd prefer to have never won. But deep down, James Howells' story shows us one thing: Bitcoin is serious! And if you don't want to find yourself in the same situation as him, you'd better choose a safe place to store your crypto. That's why I'm offering you 50% off the new wallet from... Just kidding 😜

To conclude, store your crypto properly! There's no moral to this story.
the end!

"I still believe firmly that the Bitcoin is recoverable."

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