Every year, this little story, raises its head - Newport man looses £180,000,000 in Bitcoin
I only mention it because this is local to me, and by local I mean 15miles local. The crux of it boils down to, that way back in 2013, James Howells, a Newport resident "accidentally" threw out the wrong hard drive containing some 8000 bitcoin he had mined on his home computer since late 2009. When he threw the hard drive away in 2013, the value of the bitcoins was about $7.5m (£4.6m).
James Howells
James has been asking his local council for permission to "dig" for the lost hard drive for the past several years, but has consistently been refused on grounds of ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT.
But a spokeswoman for the council said: "Newport City Council has been contacted a number of times since 2013 about the possibility of retrieving a piece of IT hardware said to contain bitcoins. The first time was several months after Mr Howells first realised the hardware was missing"
He has once again written to the Council and has offered up two new proposals to the council backed by hedge fund money depending on how much of the site he would be allowed to search. The plans include experts from landfill excavation, environmental waste management and data recovery. To maintain security and safety he has offered up as security in the form of robot Spot dogs who patrol the area to ensure nobody else tries to locate the device. Its gone proper high tech....
"The funding has been secured. We've brought on an AI specialist. Their technology can easily be retrained to search for a hard drive. We've also got an environmental team on board. We've basically got a well-rounded team of various experts, with various expertise, which, when we all come together, are capable of completing this task to a very high standard."
To sweeten any deal, James has offered the council a 25% cut of any bitcoin salvageable from the drive, and has planned to use itnto invest in a "Cryptocurrency Hub" for the city. He plans to turn Newport in to Wales' No1 crypto hotspot. He has proposed to install #bitcoin machines throughout the city, as well as offering EVERY person living in the city £25 worth of vitcoin to get them started. But yet again the council has once again refused his offer and approach.
Using data from back in 2013, James and his team have identified a 200m² area where his hard drive could possibly be located, but at a depth of around 15m down, the salvage could take between 9 and 12 months.
Looks to me like this poor bloke will continue to wonder "what if", as Newport County Council continue to say NO. I dont know what else he can do or offer..... As bitcoin price is set for another big break out, and a possible new A.T.H. , the value of lost bitcoin will continue to increase, and im sure he will hate himself even more.
If the stance of the council ever changes, ill be sure to keep you all updated.
40+yr old, trying to shift a few pounds and sharing his efforsts on the blockchain. Come find me on STRAVA or #actifit, and we can keep each other motivated .
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