$BTC
Let’s talk about James Howells, the man who turned a hard drive into the world’s most expensive piece of e-waste.
Back in 2013, James was just doing some casual digital housekeeping—you know, clearing out old computer parts, deleting files, accidentally throwing away a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoin. No big deal.
At the time, Bitcoin wasn’t exactly a household name. So he tossed the drive into the trash, likely thinking, “Well, I’ll never need that again.”
Fast forward a few years, and Bitcoin hits a staggering $60k. Suddenly, that old hard drive? Now worth nearly half a billion dollars. Yep—$500 million, chilling somewhere in a landfill in Newport, Wales. Probably buried between expired yogurt and an old toaster.
Naturally, James tried to get it back. He offered millions to the local council for permission to dig through the landfill. He even pitched using robot dogs and AI to search for it (because obviously, when you lose half a billion in crypto, Boston Dynamics becomes your tech support).
The city council said no. Something about environmental concerns, logistics, and—oh, right—not wanting their landfill to become the next Bitcoin gold rush.
So James waits, dreams, and likely Googles “how to win back lost Bitcoin” at 3 a.m. Meanwhile, that drive is probably decomposing peacefully, unaware of its net worth.
Moral of the story? Back up your wallet. Twice. Maybe three times. And whatever you do—don’t take out the trash without checking for...you know, life-changing wealth.
Because sometimes, your fortune really is in the garbage.
