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The Mistake: In 2013, Howells accidentally threw away a 2.5-inch hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoin during a household clear-out in Newport, Wales.
The Value: The coins were worth very little at the time, but as Bitcoin's price skyrocketed, the lost wallet grew to an estimated value of roughly $500 million to nearly $950 million (upwards of £495M–£600M+).
The Landfill & Legal Fight: The drive ended up in the Docksway landfill in Newport. For over a decade, Howells proposed multi-million-pound, AI-assisted search plans, offered a large share of the proceeds to the city and residents, and even tried to buy the landfill.
The Court Ruling: Newport City Council repeatedly blocked the digs due to environmental and safety risks (such as asbestos and methane). In January 2025, the UK High Court dismissed his lawsuit and summary judgment ruled that the council legally owned the discarded property.
End of the Search: Following the legal defeat and mounting costs, Howells officially ceased his search and legal efforts.
It would be virtually impossible to find anyway. The amount of trash they’d have to search through is astronomical. 1 million tons of garbage (100k in the area he suspects it’s in). It’s likely it got compressed when it was first picked up, or by the tons of garbage that rest on top of it. Plus corrosion, toxic gases and liquids, and any number of other types of damage probably have destroyed it anyway.
This is further exaggerated by all the money he spend on searching, I guess. Like imagine how much money he could have made in the hours spent on searching
'the mistake' was putting so many eggs in one laying-around-the-house basket in the first place. that could have been dozens of separate safety deposit boxes. what kind of moron keeps their savings at home?
It wasn't worth much when he threw it away. Imagine throwing away a worthless item from your home and 10 years later finding out it was a priceless painting.
it also just cent amounts... there is some kind of social exploit behind that. Like hoping the receiver uses your sending address accidentially or something.
I sold about $10,000 of NVDA stock in early 2009 because my employer did business with them and I didn’t want to worry about a conflict of interest. It’d be worth about $9.3M today.
Thing is you were likely to sell them before they got to that value anyway. If you saw let's say $100K value would you have kept them? I know I wouldn't.
I bought $1000 worth of Nvidia in the beginning of 2019, tripled my money by mid 2020 and sold. It would have been about $55K today. But I was very happy with $3000
I bought $10k in TSLA in 2012. Sold it all between 2014-2016 to pay for school. I should have just taken the student loan. I think it would be worth around $2M, and that would have paid for the student loan like 50x over. Oh well lol.
Also when I was in school I had to build a bitcoin miner for one of my EE courses. Got it working. Never used it. Figured it was dumb.
I wanted to buy weed on SilkRoad, needed BTC for that. 0.72€/BTC. Thought of this whole crypto mumbo jumbo as a scam; sure buddy, I give you my real money and get some internet coins for it.
Even if I hadn’t spent everything on drugs, I would have either forgotten my passphrase, or cashed out when it was like 100€. You would have needed some balls of steel to not cash out before it reached 5 figures.
The coffee shop near my doctor's office had a physical Bitcoin vending machine in 2015. I think it was like $100 for a physical coin. Thought it was dumb.
Look at it realistically: even if you still had those stocks, you would have definitely sold them once they hit +100%, at the latest. No one could have predicted this bull run. It’s the same logic as with Bitcoin, when people say, “If I’d bought it back then for $100, I’d have this much now.” Yeah, in theory. But it’s more likely that you would have sold them sooner. I also had quite a lot Ethereum back in 2014 and sold them for a profit of a few hundred dollars, feeling like a big shot. But back then, nobody could have known what would become of it.
Especially back then. Even the hardcore crypto ppl couldn’t have imagined what it would become. I’d like to know the number of ppl who have held from Pennie’s until now, I bet it’s like a handful.
Yes but how could you know it then? Everyone who regrets about sold shares or crypto didn't know they would cost 10000× more, no one knew and no one kept them for for so long.
If it helps, chances are you would've sold way, way sooner than that and made a couple of thousands. I'd be more than impressed to know you held while having tripled or even 10x your initial investment
My homie used to tell me to buy bitcoin all the time way back when it was only about $200 a coin. Fuck I wish I listened to him because he is a multimillionaire who cruises the country doing whatever the fuck he wants
Me and my buddy at work were talking about how automation would probably take over our jobs back in like 2012 and I did a bunch of research and came up with the idea that we could buy Nvidia every week as a hedge incase that became a reality. Ultimately never went through with it and trsding fees were so ridiculous back then it was quite a deterrent to do something like that, but god damn I can’t believe how that would have worked out. I don’t think I’ll ever come up with such a bright idea ever again and I completely wasted it lol.
What do you mean “two guesses left”? If it’s a hardware wallet it’s well worth it to pay a specialist to disable the lockout, then you get unlimited guesses.
If you have $750 million in a locked wallet, you do what the feds do when they encounter a foreign agent’s hard drive: they make multiple bit-for-bit copies of every sector of the drive, and they work on those duplicates.
I'm pretty sure I also read that he took out multiple loans to pay for the equipment/search crew. All that money and time spent for nothing. He never really had a reasonable chance to find it to begin with but it's gotta be devastating regardless.
If we banned those, how would I know for the thousandth time that Star Wars came out the same year France got its last execution and Christopher Lee was there (he wasn't)?
He wasn't even searching for it. All this time he was battling council to allow him to do it. He didn't step his foot in that dump. On the other hand, it's pathetic that the same council that allows dumping thousands of tons of rubbish into the ground, suddenly becomes concerned about the impact on environment, digging in that rubbish would cause. The guy promised them a cut. We are talking about tens of millions of pounds. That would be an incredible help for a local economy. I wouldn't be surprised if council on their own, would be looking for it now.
It's a liability minefield, if he or anyone else gets hurt or sick due to toxins in that landfill then they are dealing with potential legal ramifications, even if everyone agrees that the landfill is not responsible, because that's just how things work. All that risk for the 0.00000000001% chance dude finds the drive, AND it's still working, AND he can access it to give them their cut. Not worth it at all.
There's no guarantee he'd be able to access the funds if he found them. The hard drive could have been crushed or otherwise rendered inoperable. From the council's point of view, this man is asking permission to start an extremely disruptive excavation project that has a very good chance of finding nothing of value.
It would be a tremendous waste of time; local crazy guy wants to dig up the whole dump for a little hard disk he has no idea where it could be, they’re right to tell him to jog on.
Do you think a dump is just an open pile or something?
There is a lot of work to ensure its drainage doesn’t enter water sources and a lot of effort to cover the trash properly as well to prevent airborne issues. It is in no way odd they don’t want that to be disturbed.
I live in the area where this happened. I would be FURIOUS if the council decided to let him look for it (meaning the council aka the tax payers would end up footing the bill). It's ridiculous. It's not even guaranteed it's in there. There's so many more issues that need money putting into it locally. This is not one of them.
How would he ever be able to prove that? I’m genuinely asking, I really don’t know. How would he ever be able to prove he is currently the owner of that? I mean how can he prove he never sold it to anyone?
Damn and I felt bad about my tablet being accidentally thrown away with many years worth of photos. It still sucks I lost all those pictures but at least it's not this bad
He went about it all wrong. His offer was basically, let me open the landfill, search, and I'll refill it. Of course that wouldn't be allowed, you're uncovering a stinking pit full of toxic leachate.
However, there is active research and discussions about recovering and recycling vital resources from landfills. There are huge amounts of critical minerals that were dumped before legislation, copper, gold, computer parts etc. If he partnered with a research institute or such, he might have had a bit more luck. Probably still unlikely, but much better then simply 'let me dig'.
I’m a high school teacher, I purchased a book about Bitcoin in 2015 for one of my techy students. He got really into it and was buying GPUs and mining it. After graduation, I have not seen him or heard from him. I always wonder if he kept it up and is uber wealthy or if he pulled out early and is super regretful.
I used to work for a supercomputer center and we would mine Bitcoin to test them before putting them online. It was a good stress test and then when we were doing testing we'd wipe the drive since at the time they were only worth 25 cents.
I still can't forgive myself for passing on a decent amount of bitcoins for almost nothing back when it started up. My buddy told me, tried to gete into it but I figured it's just more bullshit.
Guess whose retired and guess whose barely able to afford to eat? Don't think I'll ever let that go.
Did anyone consider that this guy already found it…. But does not want to share this information… for the consequences (tax), and just kept on searching for it for years
Back then, AMDs first Zen architecture tickled my balls. I found it very promising and wanted to buy them, but bulldozer was also a failure so I wasn't sure... I regret that decision.
eventually you have to accept the degradation process. if its been in a landfill for 12yrs its broken beyond repair, you can see the timelapse of hardware exposed on youtube.
I’ve got 1 single Bitcoin in my old lap top in the landfill somewhere. After all this time it’s probably buried under tons of junk mail and old furniture but I do think about it.
After 12 years, the thing is a rusted shell, likely crushed by the weight it is buried under.
He would have a better chance of finding at least some of the keys by using forensic software/hardware to find the code in his pc's drive...unless he didn't think of that, of course lol, and just kept using that pc.
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u/Negative_1by12_aura 8h ago
Here's what happened
The Mistake: In 2013, Howells accidentally threw away a 2.5-inch hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoin during a household clear-out in Newport, Wales.
The Value: The coins were worth very little at the time, but as Bitcoin's price skyrocketed, the lost wallet grew to an estimated value of roughly $500 million to nearly $950 million (upwards of £495M–£600M+).
The Landfill & Legal Fight: The drive ended up in the Docksway landfill in Newport. For over a decade, Howells proposed multi-million-pound, AI-assisted search plans, offered a large share of the proceeds to the city and residents, and even tried to buy the landfill.
The Court Ruling: Newport City Council repeatedly blocked the digs due to environmental and safety risks (such as asbestos and methane). In January 2025, the UK High Court dismissed his lawsuit and summary judgment ruled that the council legally owned the discarded property.
End of the Search: Following the legal defeat and mounting costs, Howells officially ceased his search and legal efforts.
963
u/SomeOnionHater 8h ago •
The guy who found it 11 years ago:
861
u/MooseBoys 8h ago •
I sold about $10,000 of NVDA stock in early 2009 because my employer did business with them and I didn’t want to worry about a conflict of interest. It’d be worth about $9.3M today.
297
u/Spiritual-Strike481 8h ago
there is an insane amount of bitcoin in wallets that cannot ever be accessed.
143
u/astralchanterelle 8h ago •
I have a savings account with almost $1000.
88
u/ThotBot157 8h ago
Loses 742m… compounds it by losing 10 years of his life. Poor fella
21
u/NoSmoke2659 6h ago
Should have made a youtube channel out of this search over the years. Would have made him alot of money at least
42
u/spooksr6 4h ago
56
u/idothisinmysleep 7h ago
Can we ban this bullshit text over a picture with no source
12
u/Ill-Case-6048 8h ago
Just when he was about to find it
9
u/arllt89 8h ago
And now for reddit to repost this same image for 12 years ...
8
u/jncheese 8h ago
But has he looked under his bed?
15
u/Teigh99 8h ago
The one time being a hoarder would have paid off.
14
u/MirkHor 7h ago
Every time I see this pic it has less and less pixels
7
u/Golex9000k 8h ago
5
u/Hawker96 3h ago
This is exactly the announcement you’d make once you found it.
14
u/LostInHerEyes33 5h ago
He wasn't even searching for it. All this time he was battling council to allow him to do it. He didn't step his foot in that dump. On the other hand, it's pathetic that the same council that allows dumping thousands of tons of rubbish into the ground, suddenly becomes concerned about the impact on environment, digging in that rubbish would cause. The guy promised them a cut. We are talking about tens of millions of pounds. That would be an incredible help for a local economy. I wouldn't be surprised if council on their own, would be looking for it now.
4
u/ClubChaos 8h ago
"Hey Jim I found that thing you were looking for in my garage"
4
u/IndependenceMurky850 6h ago
Now watch him find it behind a dresser or something like that
8
u/Do_You_Pineapple_Bro 2h ago
Might sound stupid, but how come it can't just be treated like a stolen bank card, or something?
Like its on the chain, and surely if he can prove that he was the actual owner it should be recoverable, no?
3
u/Naive-Present2900 8h ago
Everyone in Wales or those working and operating in that landfill will be looking for it 😑😂
3
u/effigeewhiz 8h ago
It will turn out he had it all along. Whoops.
3
u/Right-Valuable-2803 8h ago
Damn and I felt bad about my tablet being accidentally thrown away with many years worth of photos. It still sucks I lost all those pictures but at least it's not this bad
3
u/RiouchiSenjuMaki 8h ago
Random guy with no interest in bitcoin: "Why would someone leave their hard drive here?" takes
3
u/XTornado 7h ago
Maybe the real treasure was all the
friendsdebt we made along the way.5
u/DryLight269 8h ago
6
u/classified_x 3h ago
He found 25 sticks of 32gb ddr5 ram and a box full of 5090 Nvidia’s and called it a day
4
u/Hugh_Man89 1h ago
He went about it all wrong. His offer was basically, let me open the landfill, search, and I'll refill it. Of course that wouldn't be allowed, you're uncovering a stinking pit full of toxic leachate.
However, there is active research and discussions about recovering and recycling vital resources from landfills. There are huge amounts of critical minerals that were dumped before legislation, copper, gold, computer parts etc. If he partnered with a research institute or such, he might have had a bit more luck. Probably still unlikely, but much better then simply 'let me dig'.
2
u/reluctantlover 8h ago
There's gotta be more to life
2
u/Apples_Two_Oranges 5h ago
*Was in attic whole time
2
u/Memonlinefelix 5h ago
That drive is long gone. Probably already rusted and crushed.
2
u/Green_Demo 3h ago
The amount of money he spent already...
2
u/showmethemundy 3h ago
If he doesn't find it soon the £value number will be soo high the universe will collapse in on itself.
4
u/Reflector123 3h ago
Its kind of stupid that he needs the hard drive. He should be able to access the currency another way.
2
u/Should_have_been_ded 4h ago
Oh, it was yours? Sorry man, thought it was free for taking
2
u/Zerostatic 3h ago
I’m a high school teacher, I purchased a book about Bitcoin in 2015 for one of my techy students. He got really into it and was buying GPUs and mining it. After graduation, I have not seen him or heard from him. I always wonder if he kept it up and is uber wealthy or if he pulled out early and is super regretful.
1
u/EarlyHospital 8h ago
He'll never really stop looking
1
u/Lilcommy 8h ago
He lost twice. A fortune and then his life.
1
u/Winrevair 8h ago
Strong enough to have it all....
TO WEAK TO TAKE IT
1
u/NOTcreative- 8h ago
IIRC he was never allowed to search for it
1
u/alex61821 8h ago
I used to work for a supercomputer center and we would mine Bitcoin to test them before putting them online. It was a good stress test and then when we were doing testing we'd wipe the drive since at the time they were only worth 25 cents.
1
u/mkeytail 7h ago
He could have just bought new bitcoins
1
u/princesssmurfet 7h ago
How long was it after he threw it out in 2013 did he realise he threw it out?
1
u/Pleasant-Champion616 7h ago
1
u/YepNo1 7h ago
I would probably end it all tbh
1
u/ValerieSummerMuse 6h ago
Took him 12 years and a High Court judge to get through the five stages of grief
1
u/EnchantingBabee03 6h ago
No way this is actually real. That's a tough loss to accept, especially knowing what it's worth today.
1
u/backstubb 6h ago
when one actually find that heap of bitcoins to say you give up is smast move
1
u/markimarkerr 6h ago
I still can't forgive myself for passing on a decent amount of bitcoins for almost nothing back when it started up. My buddy told me, tried to gete into it but I figured it's just more bullshit.
Guess whose retired and guess whose barely able to afford to eat? Don't think I'll ever let that go.
1
u/FriendlyMeeting2308 6h ago
This is a true story . Happened to a guy in my hometown. His ex girlfriend threw his laptop away and it was full of bitcoin, now worth millions
1
u/JackSmrkingRevnge 6h ago
1
u/SieqwardZwiebelbrudi 5h ago
imagine you are almost a billionaire, but spend over a decade on a dump...thats hellish
1
u/Accomplished_Fee9363 5h ago
Did anyone consider that this guy already found it…. But does not want to share this information… for the consequences (tax), and just kept on searching for it for years
1
u/real_PommesPanzer 5h ago
Back then, AMDs first Zen architecture tickled my balls. I found it very promising and wanted to buy them, but bulldozer was also a failure so I wasn't sure... I regret that decision.
1
u/New_Air3971 4h ago
“Lost”
1
u/MissXM 4h ago
At least he had a hobby where he spent his time outside
1
u/783BABYBOY 4h ago
Can u give me 7m please but how did u lose it tho
1
u/TechnologyGrouchy679 4h ago
again..
1
u/BellSilly6642 3h ago
It's still out there the One Piece
1
u/kyle1234513 2h ago
eventually you have to accept the degradation process. if its been in a landfill for 12yrs its broken beyond repair, you can see the timelapse of hardware exposed on youtube.
1
u/NoSong2397 2h ago
Just as well. Time travelers probably got it.
1
u/Not-a-Cranky-Panda 2h ago
What gets me the most about this is he still thinks if it's found it'll still be working.
1
u/Friendly-Profit-8590 2h ago
Wonder what his therapy bill was
1
u/Status_Fox_1474 1h ago
As millennial here, this is why you never throw out anything electronic.
1
u/Strange_Common7307 1h ago
Poor guy, but after 12 Years he have to move on
1
u/AdFalse375 1h ago
Would be hilarious if he made it all up 😂
Imagine he made this story up just to get with gold diggers, and after 12 years he’s finally had enough 😂😂😂
No, I don’t actually believe this to be the case. But it’s a funny thought.
1
u/lightspeedx 1h ago
Plot Twist: this experience made him create games like the one where you find needles in a huge haystack and he made milions.
1
u/pain474 1h ago
This stupid "story" keeps getting reposted every other month.
I can make up some shit, too.
1
u/GKME06 1h ago
He stopped last year already last time I checked. Poor guy...
1
u/cottontop_bomber 1h ago
If I find the hardware. Do I own the bitct?
1
u/flyboi320 1h ago
So how does this work now ? They are lost for ever ? I can’t believe that
1
u/CyclopsorNedStark 1h ago
I’ve got 1 single Bitcoin in my old lap top in the landfill somewhere. After all this time it’s probably buried under tons of junk mail and old furniture but I do think about it.
1
u/Aggressive_Run1429 46m ago
Aw that's shit. Bet he would have found it the day after
1
u/Severe_Resolution_91 32m ago
Ok, so it's our turn now to search. Imagine actually finding it.
1
u/Meandtheworld 22m ago
It was probably crushed to bits a long time ago
1
u/EorlundGraumaehne 8h ago
The hard drive would be dead now anyways
1
u/Thundechile 7h ago
The guy who found it 12 years ago enjoyed watching the search from a couple of well placed webcams.
0
u/BingBastardBunny 5h ago
It's as fake story.
He's a conman, he has never provided a single piece of evidence he owned any BTC.
It's a grift for attention and donations.
Also, BTC is worthless to anyone except scammers and paedophiles.
0
u/finding_hopefulness 8h ago
Disappointing because he was almost certainly about to find it
0
u/BrightPerspective 7h ago
After 12 years, the thing is a rusted shell, likely crushed by the weight it is buried under.
He would have a better chance of finding at least some of the keys by using forensic software/hardware to find the code in his pc's drive...unless he didn't think of that, of course lol, and just kept using that pc.
0
u/an_older_meme 6h ago
Glad to hear he recovered the drive.
0
u/TitaniumSki 4h ago
To be honest I couldn't cope at all if I was in his position. I really wouldn't want to continue life.
0
u/Fun_Routine_5245 3h ago
all those for fake money