A man was left devastated after his partner binned a hard drive with £569million worth of Bitcoin – but things are looking up for the online money mogul.
James Howells has previously been denied access to landfill, which he claimed held his fortune hidden within the rubbish. The 39-year-old says his dreams of a fortune disappeared a decade ago when his then partner chucked out a black bin bag containing the computer drive he needs to get access to his Bitcoin stash. Reportedly, he had about 8,000 Bitcoin on a hard drive.
But not all hope is lost, as an expert has weighed in and suggested there is a way James can regain his value. According to them, he just has to use the right words.
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(Image: Getty Images)
James believes he knows where the hard drive is. After Newport City Council denied him from diving in the bins to retrieve it, he actually tried to sue them.
A spokesperson for Newport City Council said: “Newport City Council has been contacted multiple times since 2013 about the possibility of retrieving a piece of IT hardware said to be in our landfill site.
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“The council has told Mr Howells multiple times that excavation is not possible under our environmental permit, and that work of that nature would have a huge negative environmental impact on the surrounding area.
“The council is the only body authorised to carry out operations on the site. Mr Howells’s claim has no merit, and the council is vigorously resisting it.”
(Image: Tom Wren / SWNS)
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Hadyn Jones, an expert in all things cryptocurrency, says if Mr. Howells still has the “seed phase”, he’d be able to get his money back. The “key” is on the hard drive and if he has some record of the ‘seed phrase’, a series of random words, he’ll be able to get back in.
Jones explained: “So, as long as he has that, he is quids in. If he doesn’t, it’s sayōnara.” However, another expert, Paul Sibenik, weighed in and said it was most likely “inaccessible forever” without the physical hard drive.
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