The success of Bitcoin since its inception has not wavered. This incredible monetary revolution has made many early adopters rich. You read these types of stories all the time of people who trusted Bitcoin before anyone else and are now reaping the greatest benefits.

This is natural because everyone pays the price they deserve for their Bitcoin. The later you join the revolution, the more you will pay for your Bitcoin.

On the other hand, you read far fewer stories of people who were early adopters, but who ruined their bold choice because of personal mistakes. Some people fell for scams, but others made mistakes that were a little more surprising.

In what follows, I'll tell you the more surprising story of James Howells, a man from Wales, who may now be at the head of a fortune of over $375 million. Unfortunately for him, James Howells lost all his Bitcoin due to his negligence. That's something to be regretted forever.

James Howells manages to accumulate 7,500 BTC as one of the first Bitcoin miners

A computer engineer, James Howells is a technophile who quickly learns about Bitcoin. He quickly became interested in this technological disruption invented by Satoshi Nakamoto. This family man became one of the first miners of the Bitcoin network. This allowed him to accumulate a large stock of BTC fairly quickly.

In early 2013, James Howells had 7,500 BTC on a hard disk drive (HDD). In reality, the Bitcoin was not actually on his HDD as you may have gathered, but the private keys to access it on the Bitcoin Blockchain were.

James Howells forgets his Bitcoin during this year 2013 and decides to clean up his office one night. Among other things, he throws this HDD in the trash. The next morning, his wife takes it upon herself to empty the trash that contains the precious HDD.

A few months later, in December 2013, the price of Bitcoin reached its first historical peak, exceeding $1,000.

Since he threw away the HDD containing the private keys to his 7,500 BTC stockpile, James Howells' life has become a living hell

James Howells then becomes obsessed with this loss, as he could have in his possession $7.5 million by the end of 2013. Instead, he has only his eyes to cry. Since the beginning of 2014, James Howells has spent his time begging the Newport City Council for permission to begin excavation work.

Deep down, James Howells believes his HDD could still be intact in one of the huge tubs full of garbage. Such an operation would require the removal of 200,000 tons of trash. Newport City Council has always refused James Howells' repeated requests, saying it rejects such a use of its public funds.

The problem is that James Howells' obsession with finding his lost Bitcoin is slowly destroying him. After years of rehashing this failure, James has divorced his wife and now rarely sees his children. Still determined to get his Bitcoin back, James Howells is now pledging 25% of the total amount to the city of Newport if his Bitcoin is recovered.

It must be said that at the current price of Bitcoin around $50K, James Howells could have the equivalent of $375 million in his hands. He would even be considered a Bitcoin Whale.

The man who bought two pizzas for 10,000 BTC in May 2020 advises James Howells to forget and to move on

The story of James Howells can be compared to that of Laszlo Hanyecz, although the end is less tragic for the latter. Laszlo Hanyecz made Bitcoin history by making the first transaction in Bitcoin history for a real-world product. In May 2010, he bought two pizzas for 10,000 BTC.

That's still $500 million for two pizzas at today's BTC prices. Rather expensive, even if we don't doubt that they were good... Rather than moping around, Laszlo Hanyecz made the only choice he could. And he advises James Howells to do the same:

“You have to forget and move on.”

Every year, the Bitcoin world honors this purchase made by Laszlo Hanyecz with Pizza Day, which takes place every May 22.

This story highlights an essential lesson: with great power comes great responsibility

In any case, James Howells' story is a good reminder for anyone who owns Bitcoin. Bitcoin gives you the freedom to live your life on your own terms by giving you power over your money. However, with great power comes great responsibility, to paraphrase Uncle Ben Parker in Spider-Man.

With the power that Bitcoin gives you comes the need to take responsibility for the security of your Bitcoin yourself. If you lose your private keys and haven't kept the seed phrase that allows you to obtain your private keys safe, then you will lose all the fruits of your labor.

It will only be your fault. You will have no one to blame. That's the power of a monetary revolution like Bitcoin's, which wants to empower every user of its network so that they can have total power.

It's up to you to make sure that the fruits of your labor are properly secured so that you never have such regrets. The first step is to store your Bitcoin away from the exchange platforms. This article outlines 5 possible storage solutions that should serve as a starting point:

https://inbitcoinwetrust.substack.com/p/5-solutions-to-store-and-secure-your

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