The person who throws away the HDD that stores 40 billion yen worth of Bitcoin as garbage continues to search for the HDD even after 12 years.
Half a Billion in Bitcoin, Lost in the Dump | The New Yorker
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/12/13/half-a-billion-in-bitcoin-lost-in-the-dump
James Howells, who worked as an engineer in Newport , England at the time of 2009, became interested in the existence of Bitcoin immediately after it was announced, and purchased information through online forums and so on. And Mr. Howells was attracted to the mechanism that 'multiple computers work together' and introduced Bitcoin mining software. When Mr. Howells started mining, there were only four other PCs connected to the blockchain, but he seems to have mined for about a week 'for experimentation and fun'.
However, he stopped mining when his girlfriend who lived with him was angry that 'the driving sound of the PC was noisy', and half a year later, he disassembled the PC because he 'spilled lemonade'. All the parts were sold and discarded, leaving the HDD, and the folder containing the 7500BTC private key and transaction history did not move to the new device iMac because 'I could not handle Bitcoin at that time'.
Then, in 2013, Howells was surprised to see the news in the newspaper that a man in Oslo , Norway bought a house for 1000 BTC (about 20 million yen at that time). For the first time, Howells learned that Bitcoin had tremendous value, but he hurriedly searched for an HDD but couldn't find it, and eventually found out that he had thrown it away when cleaning the house. To do. 'I vividly remember the day I threw away my HDD,' Howells said.
Mr. Howells thought about going to the landfill site immediately, but he didn't feel like he could explain the situation well due to the low profile of Bitcoin at that time, and spent about a month without telling anyone. That. When the price of Bitcoin lost by Mr. Howells exceeded $ 6 million (about 680 million yen), he finally confided the facts to his girlfriend and decided to find an HDD. He went to the landfill and persuaded the staff, but what Howells saw there was a huge pile of garbage, about 10 to 15 soccer courts.
However, landfill officials encouraged Mr. Howells, saying, 'There is a fixed area for dumping garbage from ordinary households.' Mr. Howells was convinced that 'finding the HDD is not impossible', but the city did not give permission for Mr. Howells' act of digging up the garbage. The Newport City Council commented, 'We do not allow treasure hunting at landfills.' 'If an HDD is found, it will be returned to Mr. Howells.' I have come to say.
In spite of the city's comments, Howells contacted the HDD manufacturer to confirm that it was 'rugged because of its anti-corrosion properties' and to the company that recovered the data from NASA's burnt space shuttle. He said that he confirmed that 'if only 32kB of disk space where the Bitcoin private key is stored is safe, the data can be retrieved with a probability of 80 to 90%'.
Howells is also trying to collect funds and information by setting up a forum for mining HDDs. While there were questions such as 'Did you really collect 7500 BTC in just one week?', There were supportive voices such as 'Sending a team of supernatural powers' and 'I want to make a movie about you.' Was also sent.
Howells will continue to seek permission from city officials and local members of the British Parliament for excavation. Mr. Howells said that he used his skills as an engineer to build a sophisticated strategy for many years, and finally contracted with two European businessmen on the condition of 'dividing profits into three'. However, it is said that it is also planning with a company that has the power to dig up a landfill.
The New Yorker, an overseas media interviewer with Howells in October 2021, said of Howells, 'I'm wearing a crisp shirt, the car is a convertible BMW, and the overall impression is lean and efficient.' It is written as. Mr. Howells, who had been bashed in the local media and online, said he was determined to mine HDDs and talked about Bitcoin and mining plans while guiding the city of Newport. New Yorker says. In addition, Mr. Howells is still trading Bitcoin, and the holding amount is about 530 million dollars (about 60 billion yen).
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