An IT worker from Newport claims to have accidentally threw away 7,500 Bitcoins in mid-2013.
At that time, James Howells didn't realize what he was going to experience. First, the value of the cryptocurrency was around $130.
Not so much of a loss, but 7,500 Bitcoins means that the hard drive was worth around $975,000.
And if that is not enough, one Bitcoin in December 2017 was worth $11,350 (£8,435). And 7,500 Bitcoins mean that the hard drive was worth a whole lot more than a treasure chest, as it would be worth $85,125,000 (£63,284,463).
Realizing the massive loss due to his carelessness, Howells plans to find that hard drive, as he believes that it is buried somewhere in a landfill site.
"In mid-2013 during a clear-out, the hard drive – then worth a few hundred thousand pounds – was mistakenly thrown out and put into a general waste bin at my local landfill site, after which it was buried on site."
Howells said he started mining Bitcoins in 2009 using his own computer. But then, he got “distracted by family life and moving house”, which made him forget about the hard drive.
Realizing how much the hard drive is worth due to the many Bitcoins it stores, Howell plans to dig up his local landfill in hopes to find the lost hard drive.
"A modern landfill is a complex engineering project and digging one up brings up all sorts of environmental issues such as dangerous gasses and potential landfill fires," he said.
And because four years have past since he lost the hard drive, tons of garbage have been poured into the dump, making any recovery effort a significant undertaking.
"It’s a big, expensive and risky project," Howells said.
When Howells asked for permission, the Newport City Council won’t allow him. The officials said that it’s against the law.
A council spokesperson said that their offices have been “contacted in the past about the possibility of retrieving a piece of IT hardware said to contain Bitcoins," but digging up the landfill, storing and treating the relocated waste could cause a "huge environmental impact on the surrounding area."
The landfill reportedly contains about 350,000 tons of waste and 50,000 more tons, which are added every year.
"It is likely that the hardware would have suffered significant galvanic corrosion due to the presence of landfill leachates and gases," officials pointed out.
What makes the hard drive even more unique is that, it was reported to also contain "the real IP address" of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto as well as the wallet file.
Among the reasons above, many people believe the positives outweigh the negatives.
Howells still tracks Bitcoin’s price, "but that’s not because I’m obsessed with the price because of my lost coins. I have multiple tickers running with prices in different fiat currencies," and not just in Bitcoin.
"I offered to donate 25% or £52.5 million ($71.7 million) to the city of Newport in order to distribute to all local residents who live in Newport should I find and recover the Bitcoins," he once said. "This would work out to approximately £175 ($239) per person for the entire city (316,000 population). Unfortunately they refused the offer and won't even have a face to face discussion with me on the matter."
If his city council allows him to search the landfill, "obviously," Howells added, "they would get a nice percentage as a gift or donation."
As for Howells himself, if he can recover his Bitcoins, he plans to cash some in, saying that he would probably sell 30% "to invest in property and other cryptocurrencies."
Years later, Howells was not giving up.
It was reported in 2021 that he has offered the local authority where he lives more than $70 million if it allows him to excavate a landfill site.
But again, a spokeswoman said the council had to decline the offer. Not because the council refused the offer, but rather because it is not possible.
"The council has told Mr Howells on a number of occasions that excavation is not possible under our licensing permit and excavation itself would have a huge environmental impact on the surrounding area. The cost of digging up the landfill, storing and treating the waste could run into millions of pounds - without any guarantee of either finding it or it still being in working order."
Howells’ story isn’t entirely unique. In the past, some people experienced similar issues, but not at Howells' scale.
For example, back in 2012, Campbell Simpson, the editor of Gizmodo Australia, said that he threw away a hard drive containing 1,400 Bitcoins.
In May 2010, developer Laszlo Hanyecz completed what is believed to be the first “real-world” Bitcoin transaction by paying 10,000 Bitcoin for two pizzas.
“I'll pay 10,000 bitcoins for a couple of pizzas.. like maybe 2 large ones so I have some left over for the next day,” he wrote on 18 May 2010.
The pizzas cost $25. At that time, Bitcoin almost had no price. But at this time, the 10,000 Bitcoins Hanyecz exchanged for them are worth $113,500,000 (£84,350,435).
