Did a simple cleanup cost this man $742 million? The shocking 12-year hunt for lost Bitcoin
A Routine Cleanup With Life-Altering Consequences
James Howells' Story Becomes the Plot For Docuseries
Decade-Long Quest
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In 2013, James Howells was just an ordinary IT worker in Newport, South Wales, doing what most of us do, tidying up his office space. What he didn't realise at the time was that his routine clean-up would accidentally toss away a hard drive holding 8,000 Bitcoins, as per a report. Back then, those Bitcoins were worth $8 million, and today, that same digital wallet is valued at around $742 million, as per Daily Galaxy report.That single mistake turned Howells' life into a treasure hunt for more than a decade, and now after 12 years, his story is being turned into a docuseries and is set to be released in late 2025, as per the report.A Los Angeles-based production company called LEBUL has bought the rights to tell Howells' story in a new docuseries, podcast, and short-form content named 'The Buried Bitcoin: The Real-Life Treasure Hunt of James Howells," reported BBC.Howells had mined the Bitcoins in the early days of cryptocurrency, but like many at the time, he didn't fully grasp the value of what he had. The private key to the fortune was stored on a hard drive that ended up in a Newport landfill—lost under tonnes of trash, according to Daily Galaxy report.As Bitcoin's value skyrocketed, so did Howells' determination to recover what he'd lost, but it was not easy to dig up the landfill to find his hard drive, according to the report.However, Howells didn't just sit back and mourn his loss, he made plans for high-tech solutions, including AI-powered drones and robotic systems, to safely search the landfill without causing environmental damage, reported Daily Galaxy. He had even offered to fund the project himself and asked just for the Newport City Council's permission to access the landfill, but the permission never came, according to the report.Local officials denied permission due to the potential dangers of disturbing the landfill, which could cause the release of toxic gases and the contamination of water sources, reported Daily Galaxy.By 2024, his fight had reached its final chapter in court as a British judge ruled his recovery efforts had 'no realistic prospect' of success, as per the report. The judge also had highlighted many factors that made the case untenable, like the condition of the hard drive after more than a decade of exposure to moisture, pressure, and extreme temperatures, as per Daily Galaxy. After the ruling, his search came to an official end.It was tossed into a landfill in Newport, South Wales, where it remains buried under tons of waste.A docuseries titled 'The Buried Bitcoin' is in production by LEBUL, along with a podcast and short-form content.
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