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Man accidentally throws away hard drive worth $630,000,000 and now he's suing

Home> News> Tech News

Updated 09:32 20 Nov 2024 GMTPublished 09:31 20 Nov 2024 GMT

Man accidentally throws away hard drive worth $630,000,000 and now he's suing

This might be worth crawling through landfill for

Harry Boulton

Harry Boulton

We certainly wouldn't want to be in this man's shoes, as he's spent the last 15 years fighting to reclaim a disposed-of hard drive that could now be worth over $600,000,000.

Cryptocurrency has changed a lot in the last decade and a half, with Bitcoin persisting as the single most popular, and most valuable choice.

There are countless stories out there of people using Bitcoin to pay for worthless things back when it had but a fraction of its current value, and while those people will certainly have regrets, at least they didn't literally chuck away a fortune.

Newport native James Howells, 39, has been on a one-man mission for over ten years now after throwing away a hard drive which contained 8,000 Bitcoin (BTC).

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James Howells could not believe what he'd done (@howelzy/X)
James Howells could not believe what he'd done (@howelzy/X)

While at the time of disposal the crypto on the hard drive was worth just a 'measly' £4 million ($5.07m), it could now be sold for upwards of $740,734,080 (£584,972,160) - so you can understand why he's a bit annoyed.

This is due to the dramatic price increase of Bitcoin following Donald Trump's election victory, taking the individual price all the way up to $92,591.76 at the time of writing.

As first reported by the BBC back in 2013, the situation occurred when Howells lost track of what was on the hard drive, binning it in the process of moving house:

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"I had a clearout of my old IT equipment - I hadn't used this drive for over three years, I believed I'd taken everything off it... so it go thrown in the bin."

He realized his horrific mistake when he went to check his stash following news of a price increased, which no doubt would have boiled the minds of even the calmest individuals out there.

Howells hasn't given up in his quest to reclaim his lost Bitcoin though, as he remains engaged in a fierce battle with Newport Council whom he is reportedly suing in order to access and search the landfill site where he believes the hard drive is hiding.

Newport Council have claimed that the excavation of the landfill site would not be possible, and would create a significant environmental impact on the surrounding area, but that hasn't yet proved to be a deterrent.

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The price of Bitcoin continues to soar with no signs of slowing down (VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
The price of Bitcoin continues to soar with no signs of slowing down (VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

He has previously offered 25% of the Bitcoin value to Newport Council for local community projects, but has since reduced this offer to just 10% - although that is likely still a larger sum of money despite being a smaller share.

Now he's stepped it up another level by opening a civil claim for £495,314,800 ($627,775,410), although the Council remain firm in resisting Howells' protests.

"The claim has no merit," argues a Newport City Council spokesperson speaking to the BBC, "and the council is vigorously resisting it."

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You can't exactly blame him though, I'm sure we'd all try as much as we can to get what is likely to be one of the most valuable hard drives in the world.

Featured Image Credit: @‌howelzy/X / Johner Images/Getty Images
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