If we spent around some couple cents to buy a Bitcoin 10 years ago, we would now be billionaires. That's just 1, imagine how this IT engineer from Wales felt who lost 8,000 BTC in the trash.

In the early days of Bitcoin being the center of national media coverage a decade ago, the price was still around tens of cents. I don't even remember reaching half a US dollar in 2013-2014.

Now, at the time this article was written, according to the Coin Marketcap page, the value of BTC has reached US$ 103,500 per piece. Wow! This means that just holding 1 BTC makes us a rich guy and 10 Bitcoin makes us a the next millionaire.

So, just imagine how claustrophobic James Howell, an IT engineer from Wales, feels when he remembers his 8,000 BTC that is now nowhere to be found.

That's why he was desperate to sue the City Council for permission to rummage through a pile of rubbish at a landfill site in Newton to find the treasure. An effort that was later stopped by the local prosecutor.

Forgot the Private Key

James Howell's 8,000 pieces of BTC are not actually missing. The thousands of digital coins are still on the Bitcoin blockchain, so they'll be there forever.

The problem is, the 39-year-old IT engineer forgot the private key to access his coins. Without that unique combination of letters and numbers, he'll never be able to get his Bitcoin back again.

Private keys are difficult to memorize because the combinations are so random. Not to mention there are variations of uppercase and lowercase letters that make it even more difficult to remember.

That's why cryptocurrency owners usually record their private keys in a book, then keep it carefully in a special cabinet, drawer or shelf. Some keep them in the form of digital records on cloud computing, such as Google Drive, and some as email drafts.

Well, when he bought 8,000 BTC a dozen years ago, James Howell kept a record of his private keys on his computer's hard disk drive (HDD). When he later upgraded his computer, he removed the HDD and kept it in his desk drawer.

Unfortunately, while cleaning up the room, James Howell's partner threw the hardware in the trash. She probably thought it was an unused hard drive, so instead of filling up the drawer, she threw it away.

The incident in 2013 was initially dismissed as an accident. Understandably, at that time the value of Bitcoin was still small change. In fact, most people only consider it a joke in the world of programming that doesn't need to be taken seriously.

Who would have thought then that Bitcoin would become a serious project and its price would continue to rise. That's why since a decade ago James Howell has been trying hard to get back his hard disk, which is now nowhere to be found.

Intent on Digging through the Trash

Let's do a little math to get an idea of how much James Howell's Bitcoin is worth.

BTC hit an all-time high price of US$ 108,135 on December 17, 2024. This means that James Howell's 8,000 BTC is worth a total of US$ 865,080,000.

After that, the price of Bitcoin fell below US $ 100,000 and had long been in the range of US$ 90,000. However, it is still worth something so big for many of us.

That's why James Howell then intends to rummage through the piles of garbage at the Newton landfill. His hope, of course, is to find his long-lost hard drive again in order to access his 8,000 BTC.

Although not as massive as the Bantargebang TPST, Newton Landfill still contains tons of waste. Quoting the BBC, this place holds at least 1.4 million tons of waste.

However, James Howell's plan sparked a reaction from the local city government. The Newton City Council asked him not to take actions that were considered to disturb public order while damaging the surrounding environment.

After all, according to the City Council's statement, the Newton landfill and all its contents belong to the local municipality. So, even if the hard drive Howell was looking for was there, it no longer belonged to him, but to the city government.

Not giving up hope, last September 2024 James Howell issued a petition against the City Council's argument. He even offered 25% of his treasure to the city treasury, which could be used for charity.

That effort was stymied by Newton's city council. Howell then turned to the courts to get official permission to enter the landfill and poke around in it.

Unfortunately, this ultimate step also failed. The local prosecutor took the same stance as the City Council, not granting Howell permission.

The prosecutor argued that there was no reasonable basis for the IT engineer to take such action. There is also no guarantee that realistically his efforts will pay off.

Seeing the price of Bitcoin which is now back in the hundreds of US dollars, even predicted to even print a new all time high, it is unimaginable what James Howell feels like every time he remembers his 8,000 BTC which is now nowhere to be found.