News

There is $75m in Bitcoin Under 200,000 Tonnes of Garbage in a South Wales Tip

$75m of unclaimed Bitcoin likely lies at the bottom of 200,000 tons of garbage

Got a shovel? Pair of marigolds? A spare 300 years? Then get yourself down to all of the rubbish tips in South Wales, there might be a hard drive with £75m of Bitcoin waiting for you.

Whether you would be able to claim it or not is uncertain, but one man at least, James Howells, knows that he could.

In 2009, at the infancy of the Crypto-currency game, James Howell set up his old Dell M1710 laptop to casually mine Bitcoin. After some time, he had eventually amassed 7,500 bitcoins.

Eventually butchering the laptop for parts, he kept the hard drive in a drawer for safe keeping.  Unfortunately, during a clean out, it was promptly binned. While I can not relate to losing £75m in Bitcoin, I can relate to that.

Estimated to have thrown it out in 2013, the value, even at that time would have been reasonably substantial. Alas, now the hard drive sits likely buried under a colossal pile of South Welsh rubbish.

With bitcoin now topping over $10,000 a coin, the value of the coins now would be around £75m. Amazingly though, he’s not bitter.

Why hasn’t he tried to find it?

Well, in a report via Wired, he did think about it, but unfortunately, it wasn’t that easy: “I haven’t actually tried to search for the hard drive yet as I haven’t been given permission to look despite having financial backing in place and engaging the local council a number of times. Digging up a landfill is not as easy as just digging a hole in the ground.”

This isn’t Atari’s ET in a landfill after all.

He is at least a little philosophical about it, I’m not sure I would be. The likely bottom line, however, is that the hard drive is lost forever. If it is in the tip, 4 years of cold, damp and slime probably haven’t helped. Just think about it though, a colony of rats is probably nesting next to one of the biggest lost Bitcoin claims in Britain.

In fairness, on his social media account James Howells is actually remarkably laid back about it and even shared some of the more humorous posts he gets including the hilarious one below.

What do you think? Could you bear losing 7,500 in Bitcoin? Are you off to get your spade? – Let us know in the comments!

Mike Sanders

Disqus Comments Loading...

Recent Posts

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Developer Confirms That DRM Isn’t in the Game at All

If there's one open-world RPG topping the most anticipated lists of 2025, it's Kingdom Come…

11 hours ago

Fortnite Chapter 1 Map Set for a Permanent Return in December

Fortnite has changed a lot over the years, with countless additions transforming the game’s landscape…

15 hours ago

Nintendo Confirms Backwards Compatibility for Upcoming Switch 2 Console

Nintendo has confirmed that the upcoming console, tentatively known as the Switch 2, will feature…

16 hours ago

Intel Core Ultra 9 285H Leaked on Geekbench with 2,665 Single-Core Points

With the recent launch of the Intel Core Ultra 200K for desktop computers, Intel is…

16 hours ago

Intel Postpones German Expansion Amid Industry Setbacks

Intel is planning to expand into Europe, specifically with a new plant in the German…

16 hours ago

CPU-Z Updated to Support AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Intel Core Ultra 200H and 200HX

Tomorrow, AMD will announce its latest processor featuring 3D V-Cache technology, the AMD Ryzen 9000X3D…

16 hours ago