My wife chucked £225million in the BIN – she had no idea my Bitcoin hard drive was in there & now the tip is on lockdown
A DAD whose £225million Bitcoin hard drive was accidentally chucked in the bin by his partner has now seen the rubbish tip guarded round the clock.
James Howells, 38, was left devastated after his ex accidentally threw out 8,000 bitcoins during an office clear out in 2013.
The hard drive containing the access to his crypto assets – which has now rocketed in value to more than £450m – was being temporarily stored in a black bin bag.
Over a decade later, James believes that the hard-drive is at a rubbish dump in Newport, South Wales – and he’s planning a hunt with a reward of £10 million to whoever finds it.
His treasure hunt has been backed by a team of investors who are willing to cover the cost of the search as well as any equipment that may need to be used.
And James has finally narrowed the potential search down to an area which would mean excavating 100,000 tonnes of rubbish buried under the grassy hills.
However, a strict security cordon is in place at the the Newport Household Waste Recycling Centre in South Wales after the council refused him permission.
A worker at the recycling centre told MailOnline: “There’s 24-hour security – everyone who works here knows about what’s supposed to be buried in the landfill under the hills.
“But the other problem is, where would they start looking? The two small hills cover several acres, they’d never find it.
“The owner has visited the site many times – if it’s here it’s under one of those two hills in the distance.
“He’s adamant but no one can know for sure if it’s here – some of the stuff that arrives is sent off to incinerators.”
They continued: “Even if the council gave permission it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. It would be impossible.
“Unless the computer stuff has some sort of homing device on it, there’s just no way. The fella should just forget about it and move on.”
James has been refused permission to search for the iPhone sized drive repeatedly – despite offering a quarter of any fortune to the council.
They say the chances of finding the drive are unrealistic.
And the council says the landfill where the hard disc is buried can’t be touched due to strict environmental regulations.
The IT worker has previously hired engineers, environmentalists and data recovery experts from around the world to aid in his desperate search.
He even hired NASA data experts Ontrack in 2021 – the data-recovery firm which salvaged the battered drive from the Columbia space shuttle after it plunged to Earth in 2003.
James is also preparing a “final nuclear option” of taking legal action against Newport City Council.
Search expert Keaton Stone said that this “nuclear option” is becoming increasingly likely as the council has refused to negotiate with James over the last decade.
James lives in a pebbledashed £180,000 terraced house in Newport and it’s from there he’s planning his next move against the council.
But some refuse workers at the site believe James should be given a chance.
One said: “If he has an idea where it could be then he should be allowed to look for it.
“At the end of the day it’s his property, if it can be returned then why not?”
Meanwhile, father-of-two Jordan Williams, 39, of Newport said: “It must be like getting all six numbers on the lottery then realising you forgot to buy a ticket.
“If it’s true, I feel sorry for the guy. He must be thinking he should be living on a luxury yacht in the Bahamas.”
He was going to take rubbish to the dump the next day and went to bed with a nagging feeling that something was wrong.
When he woke up his partner had put the waste bags in her car and driven them to the landfill thinking she was doing him a favour.
Newport Council said: ‘We have been contacted multiple times since 2013 about the possibility of retrieving a piece of IT hardware said to contain bitcoins, which may or may not be in our landfill site.
‘The council has told Mr Howells multiple times that excavation is not possible under our environmental permit, and work of that nature would have a huge negative environmental impact on the surrounding area.
“We have been very clear and consistent in our responses that we cannot assist Mr Howells in this matter. Our position has not changed.
“We will be offering no further comments on this issue as it takes up valuable officer time which could be spent on delivering services for the residents of Newport.”
INVESTMENT WARNING
Crypto can be riskier than other investments because they are volatile and speculative – their price often rising and falls very quickly, sometimes seemingly for not reason.
Many cryptocurrencies have a short track record, making them difficult to understand and predict.
This type of investment is also not protected by the regulator which means you have no protection if things go wrong.
The UK regulator has warned that Brits risk losing ALL of their money if they invest in cryptocurrencies.
If you are considering investing in any type of crypto, do your research first and only invest money you can afford to lose.
Be wary of scams, too, as the crypto market is often a target for fraud.
Look out for fake celebrity endorsements or social media profiles pushing certain coins.
The risks of buying with cryptocurrencies
Investing and making a purchase in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin is risky .
Their value is highly volatile and City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority has warned investors should be prepared to lose all their money.
Investing in cryptocurrencies is not a guaranteed way to make money.
You should also think carefully about making purchases with a cryptocurrency.
For example, Bitcoin has had wild price fluctuations in recent months and the price can change on an almost hourly basis.
The price of a Bitcoin was at $40,258 on January 9, according to Coindesk, but fell to $34,214 just three days later.
That’s a 15% drop.
These price swings are risky for a business as you could sell an item for a Bitcoin at one price and the value may drop soon after, leaving you with less money from a sale.
Similarly, the price of Bitcoin has soared by more than 21% since the start of this week so it can be hard for a shopper to get an accurate idea of the price of an item if its value changes on a daily basis.