Twelve years after accidentally throwing away a hard drive with 8,000 Bitcoins, valued today at 742 million euros, Welsh engineer James Howells has finally decided to give up on his search.
Since 2013, Howells has tirelessly fought to recover his fortune, proposing plans that included the use of robots, artificial intelligence, and drones to excavate the Newport landfill. However, local authorities have always rejected his proposals due to health risks, excessive costs, and doubts about the condition of the disk.
The final blow came in 2025 when a British court ruled that, according to the Waste Act of 1974, everything discarded in a landfill belongs to the municipality. For the law, his Bitcoins do not legally exist, only a rusted disk.
Howells' story has turned into a digital tragedy and a symbol of the dangers of cryptocurrencies, serving as a clear warning about the importance of safeguarding digital wallets and backing up valuable information.
Source: MeriStation
