Friday, February 26, 2021

One Man's Effort to Recover $280 Million in Bitcoin He Accidentally Threw Away

Another object lesson regarding the risks of crypto-currency investing comes by way of James Howells, a 35-year-old IT engineer from Wales.  Howells accidentally threw out a hard drive on which he had stored 7,500 bitcoins.  Although reports did not indicate his initial investment, assuming he purchased the bitcoin in April, of 2011, his initial investment was $7500.00.  The bitcoins are worth about $280 million at today's prices (in April of 2011, the price of a bitcoin skyrocketed to $32 a coin).  

Howells said he had two identical laptop hard drives and he accidentally threw the drive with the cryptographic "private key" that he needed to access his coins in the trash. 

Howells is reportedly confident that he would be able to retrieve the key and recover the bitcoin. If the platter inside the hard drove is still intact, data recovery experts could rebuild the drive and read the data from the platter. The drive, which he threw away eight years ago, is the only way to regain access to the coins. 

Unfortunately, retrieving the hard drive would not be an easy task. Howells will first need to gain permission from local council to search the garbage dump since the landfill is not open to the public. After that, Howells would have to dig through eight years worth of garbage. 

Howells has offered to donate 25% (around $70.8 million) of the bitcoin to a Covid Relief Fund for his city if he is able to find the drive. Unfortunately, city council has rejected his requests so far and they are showing no signs of letting up any time soon. 

For more information, including information on how you might avoid these risks, see the following prior blog posts:

The Strange Case of Crypto Exchange QuadrigaCX: Death and a Missing $200 Million

LegalVault® Offers Solution to Estate Planning Challenges of Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies 

Source: Man makes last-ditch effort to recover $280 million in bitcoin he accidentally threw out, CNBC News, January 15, 2021.

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