Fun Fact: There are 7500 BTC($250 million USD) lost somewhere in Newport, Wales

James Howells, 35, said he mistakenly put a hard drive with 7,500 bitcoins in the trash while clearing out his home in 2013. He claims he had two identical laptop hard drives, and that he mistakenly put the one that contained Bitcoin in the trash.

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He needs permission from his local council to search a garbage dump he believes contains the lost hardware. The landfill is not open to the public and trespassing would be considered a criminal offense.

But the Newport City Council has so far rejected his requests to look through the landfill, citing environmental and funding concerns. And it doesn’t seem like local officials are about to budge anytime soon.

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Howells has offered to donate 25% of the haul — worth around $70.8 million — to a “Covid Relief Fund” for his home city if he manages to dig up the hard drive. He has also promised to fund the excavation project with the backing of an unnamed hedge fund.

“As far as I am aware they have already rejected the offer,” Howells said. “Without even having heard our plan of action or without being given a chance to present our mitigations to their concerns regarding the environment, it’s just a straight up ‘no’ every time.”

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I bet there are a lot more stories like this, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if people really search through garbage dumps or anything for hard drives hoping to find crypto.

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