The main character in this story is James Howells, probably one of the unluckiest men in the world. He made headlines after accidentally throwing away a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoin (BTC) into the trash.
Of course, back then Bitcoin wasn’t considered the valuable asset it is today. As a software engineer, James mined 8,000 Bitcoin in 2009, mostly driven by his passion for technology and computers.
But this hobby had to end for a funny reason. His then-girlfriend, Halfina Eddy-Evans, kept complaining about the loud noise from the PC’s cooling fan that kept her awake at night. That’s when James stopped mining Bitcoin, though he had already accumulated quite a stash.
Things got worse when he accidentally spilled lemonade on his computer, permanently damaging it. Still, he kept the hard drive holding those 8,000 Bitcoins in a drawer. Then in 2013, Halfina, asked to clean up his room, threw the hard drive straight into the trash.
The story resurfaced when Halfina admitted she was the one who threw away this massive fortune. With Bitcoin’s price near $100,000 now, those 8,000 BTC are worth around $800 million. Halfina says her only wish is for James to find the lost Bitcoin, not to make her rich, but so he’ll finally stop talking about it.
Meanwhile, James has sued the Newport City Council, demanding $647 million in damages after they refused his request to excavate the landfill where his hard drive was buried.
