Cryptocurrency Story: The 5.2 Billion 'Garbage' Incident

In Newport, UK, there is a programmer named James Howells, whose experience is legendary and incredibly 'dramatic'.

In 2009, James jumped on the bandwagon of Bitcoin mining and after several months, he mined about eight thousand Bitcoins. At that time, Bitcoin had not yet appreciated significantly, and due to his girlfriend's complaints about the noise from the computer's cooling fan affecting her sleep, he stopped mining. Later, the computer was damaged by lemonade, and he sold the usable parts to buy a Mac. Because the Apple system was incompatible with the Bitcoin keys, the hard drive storing the eight thousand Bitcoins was casually placed in a desk drawer, where it remained for more than three years, and he gradually forgot about it.

During a decluttering craze, James found two hard drives in the desk drawer and mistakenly threw away the one containing the Bitcoins, thinking it was a blank drive, and his girlfriend threw the garbage away the next day. Months later, when he saw news that Bitcoin could buy a house, he opened the hard drive only to find it was empty, which was like a bolt from the blue. But he did not give up; after investigation and calculations, he determined that the garbage was about five centimeters underground in a nearby landfill. He then applied to the local council for permission to excavate, but was rejected on the grounds of environmental pollution.

James resolutely quit his job to treasure hunt full-time and even crowdfunded online, raising the equivalent of 67 million yuan. He hired professionals to narrow down the location of the hard drive to a 200-meter radius and applied again for self-funded excavation, but was rejected by the council once more. He became more determined and brought in data experts who had business dealings with NASA, promising high returns. During this tug-of-war, the value of Bitcoin skyrocketed, with the eight thousand Bitcoins rising to over 500 million pounds, approximately 5.2 billion yuan.

Some believe that the council's stance may soften, while others think James's offer was not high enough. This incident combines elements of mystery, comedy, and melodrama, as a mistakenly thrown away hard drive carries immense wealth. James struggles between hope and disappointment; whether he can retrieve the hard drive and successfully obtain this fortune, or will he forever miss out on it, remains unknown. All of this leaves behind a jaw-dropping and thought-provoking story, making one ponder the unpredictability of fate and the wonders of wealth. #币圈故事