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In a recent court filing, a 39-year-old IT engineer, James Howells, filed charges against Newport City Council for damages caused after he lost his Bitcoin fortune. The engineer claimed he lost his hard drive containing a measured amount of Bitcoin in 2013.
Howell lamented that the hard drive was mistakenly dumped during a housing cleaning, and efforts to evacuate the landfill have been futile.
Why Did Newport City Council Prevent Execution of Lost Bitcoin Hard Disk?
The troubled Bitcoin investor lamented the Newport City Council prevented him from evacuating the dumping site. He suggested alternative options to evacuate the landfill, such as donating 25% to evacuate the site, but the council turned a dumb ear.
Howell confessed to hiring experts to dig 100,000 tonnes of garbage at an agreed cost and vowed to offer the council 10% of the BTC retrieved, but the council rejected the proposal.
In May, Howell revealed plans to use artificial intelligence (AI) technology to scan tonnes of garbage at the landfill.
Having gathered information from the staff working on the site, Howell confirmed that the garbage remained intact after ten years, and no recycling activities occurred. With this information, Howell believes an AI scanning tool could help retrieve the lost hard disk.
Despite Howell’s efforts to use advanced technology to recover the hard disk, the council opposes the idea. A report from a Newport spokesperson reveals the evacuation of the landfill under questioning could have environmental impacts.
After a long search to retrieve the lost hard disk, Howell resolved to sue the council for the damages caused. He estimated that the hard disk contained around 8000 Bitcoins, valued at $647 million at the current market price.
He confessed that he was among the first to mine crypto in 2009. Howell stated that in his prime years, he spent most of his time at IT events, where he learned about crypto.
Significance of Keeping Private Keys Safe
He said that after gaining the fundamental skills, he managed to mine BTC in 2009. He resolved to store the private keys in one of his hard disks to access the digital coins easily. With the hopes of yielding high returns and proceeding with the crypto journey, Howell accidentally misplaced his hard drive four years after mining BTC.
Howell confessed to having searched the hard disk at his place and contacting the garbage collectors to trace where the trash was dumped. The engineer lamented that after ten years of searching, the council had failed to assist him in retrieving his Bitcoin fortune.
He hired top-level legal counsel to help him fight for justice in court. The case will be heard before year-end, and Howell’s legal team will represent their client’s interest. With the hope that Bitcoin will increase in value exponentially, Howell vowed to give the council 10% of BTC after successfully evacuating the landfill.
He confessed that Newport would have outpaced crypto-friendly states such as Dubai or Las Vegas if the council had cooperated. He blamed the council for not seizing the opportunity he presented on the future of crypto.
Howell’s case mirrors most incidents where the investors lost millions of crypto after misplacing their private keys.
In Howell’s case, keeping your private keys safe and secure is essential. Apart from physical storage such as hard disk, the investor can store their private key in an advanced tool with encryption and biometric-enabled features.
For more information on how to keep your private keys safe, follow TurkishNY Radio on Tumblr, Telegram, and LinkedIn.
