In the relentless search, James Howells even offered to buy the landfill.
In 2013, James Howells, then a simple IT technician in Newport, Wales, made a mistake that would change his life. While cleaning his office, he inadvertently threw away a hard drive containing the private key to his Bitcoin wallet. At the time, the cryptocurrency was still not very well known and was worth only a few hundred dollars each. But fate would turn this simple accident into one of the greatest financial tragedies of the digital age.
In a few years, the value of Bitcoin skyrocketed. Howells' 8,000 Bitcoins, initially valued at € 7 million, are now worth € 770 million in conversion (exchange rate on June 9) — which amounts to about R$ 4.9 billion. The realization is brutal: what was a mere mistake has turned into a personal tragedy and a global symbol of the fragility of digital fortunes. Determined to recover his hard drive, Howells devises plans worthy of a science fiction movie. He proposed the use of drones and robots with artificial intelligence to scour the Newport landfill, minimizing environmental impact.
