According to Odaily, a recent revelation by Halfina Eddy-Evans, the former girlfriend of IT engineer James Howells from Newport, Wales, has shed light on the circumstances surrounding the disposal of a hard drive containing 8,000 bitcoins. Eddy-Evans disclosed that in 2013, she discarded the hard drive at Howells' request, as he asked her to get rid of unwanted items, including the hard drive. She stated, "It wasn't my fault for throwing it away." At the time of disposal, the value of bitcoin was less than $1, but today, those bitcoins are worth over $716 million.
Previously, it was reported that James Howells is suing the Newport City Council in the UK for damages amounting to £495 million (approximately $647 million) after accidentally discarding the hard drive containing the bitcoins. Howells has made several attempts to retrieve the hard drive from a local landfill, but his efforts have been thwarted by the city council, which has repeatedly denied his requests to excavate the site. The incident occurred during a household cleanup in 2013, and the value of the bitcoins now approaches £500 million.
