- 66,725
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- Jan 5, 2011
buy nantz has it at .92
- 3,841
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- Apr 30, 2015
raiblocks is looking good. as soon as changely verify my debit im going to buy next dip that and groescoin
- 37,274
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- Jan 18, 2006
Officials won't let a man look for $135 million in bitcoin he threw away
James Howells, an IT worker living in the United Kingdom, knows exactly where his misplaced 7,500 bitcoins are but the city council where he lives won't let him retrieve them. They say it's against the law.
According to a report published in The Telegraph, Howells began mining bitcoin on his personal laptop in 2009. In 2013, though, "after I had stopped mining, the laptop I had used was broken into parts and sold on eBay," Howells tells The Telegraph.
He kept the drive he used to collect the bitcoins, "so if bitcoin did become valuable one day, I would still have the coins I mined."
But, while cleaning his home in 2013, he mistakenly put it into a waste bin at his local landfill site in Newport, South Wales, where it got buried.
Now, with bitcoin's value hovering just above $17,000 Wednesday, according to digital-currency website CoinDesk, Howells' 7,500 lost bitcoins are worth more than $127 million. CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index tracks prices from digital currency exchanges Bitfinex, Bitstamp, Coinbase and itBit.
More than four years' worth of garbage have poured into the dump since his mistake, which would make any recovery effort a significant undertaking. "A modern landfill is a complex engineering project and digging one up brings up all sorts of environmental issues, such as dangerous gasses and potential landfill fires," Howells says. "It's a big, expensive and risky project."
He wants to try, regardless, but the Newport City Council won't allow it.
In an interview with tech website Wired, a council spokesperson said their offices have been "contacted in the past about the possibility of retrieving a piece of IT hardware said to contain bitcoins," but digging up, storing and treating the waste could cause a "huge environmental impact on the surrounding area."
The landfill reportedly contains about 350,000 tons of waste and 50,000 more tons are added every year.
"It is likely that the hardware would have suffered significant galvanic corrosion due to the presence of landfill leachates and gases," officials pointed out. Even if the drive is recovered, it may not work after being exposed to weighty and possibly toxic waste for so long.
Plus, the operation, which could require specialty-construction vehicles, might cost millions. And while Howells has the "financial backing in place" to fund such an effort, according to Wired, he needs permission: The landfill is not open to the public and trespassing would be considered a criminal offense.
The fact that files containing bitcoin can be lost is one reason to perhaps be wary of cryptocurrencies. There are other causes for concern as well: Some experts fear it could be outlawed, note it's hard to value accurately and say buying it is more gambling than investing.
Still, many believe the positives outweigh the negatives. Even Howells still tracks bitcoin's price, he tells Wired, "but that's not because I'm obsessed with the price because of my lost coins. I have multiple tickers running with prices in different fiat currencies," not just in bitcoin.
And if Howells does recover his bitcoins, he'll probably cash some in. "Who knows for sure?" he says. "I probably would have sold 30 or 40 percent in 2013 to invest in property and other cryptocurrencies."
With the value of bitcoin continuing to rise, some speculate that eventually Howells' lost coins will be worth a fortune and the city council will be obligated to allow a search.
"And obviously," Howells says, "they would get a nice percentage as a gift or donation."
James Howells, an IT worker living in the United Kingdom, knows exactly where his misplaced 7,500 bitcoins are but the city council where he lives won't let him retrieve them. They say it's against the law.
According to a report published in The Telegraph, Howells began mining bitcoin on his personal laptop in 2009. In 2013, though, "after I had stopped mining, the laptop I had used was broken into parts and sold on eBay," Howells tells The Telegraph.
He kept the drive he used to collect the bitcoins, "so if bitcoin did become valuable one day, I would still have the coins I mined."
But, while cleaning his home in 2013, he mistakenly put it into a waste bin at his local landfill site in Newport, South Wales, where it got buried.
Now, with bitcoin's value hovering just above $17,000 Wednesday, according to digital-currency website CoinDesk, Howells' 7,500 lost bitcoins are worth more than $127 million. CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index tracks prices from digital currency exchanges Bitfinex, Bitstamp, Coinbase and itBit.
More than four years' worth of garbage have poured into the dump since his mistake, which would make any recovery effort a significant undertaking. "A modern landfill is a complex engineering project and digging one up brings up all sorts of environmental issues, such as dangerous gasses and potential landfill fires," Howells says. "It's a big, expensive and risky project."
He wants to try, regardless, but the Newport City Council won't allow it.
In an interview with tech website Wired, a council spokesperson said their offices have been "contacted in the past about the possibility of retrieving a piece of IT hardware said to contain bitcoins," but digging up, storing and treating the waste could cause a "huge environmental impact on the surrounding area."
The landfill reportedly contains about 350,000 tons of waste and 50,000 more tons are added every year.
"It is likely that the hardware would have suffered significant galvanic corrosion due to the presence of landfill leachates and gases," officials pointed out. Even if the drive is recovered, it may not work after being exposed to weighty and possibly toxic waste for so long.
Plus, the operation, which could require specialty-construction vehicles, might cost millions. And while Howells has the "financial backing in place" to fund such an effort, according to Wired, he needs permission: The landfill is not open to the public and trespassing would be considered a criminal offense.
The fact that files containing bitcoin can be lost is one reason to perhaps be wary of cryptocurrencies. There are other causes for concern as well: Some experts fear it could be outlawed, note it's hard to value accurately and say buying it is more gambling than investing.
Still, many believe the positives outweigh the negatives. Even Howells still tracks bitcoin's price, he tells Wired, "but that's not because I'm obsessed with the price because of my lost coins. I have multiple tickers running with prices in different fiat currencies," not just in bitcoin.
And if Howells does recover his bitcoins, he'll probably cash some in. "Who knows for sure?" he says. "I probably would have sold 30 or 40 percent in 2013 to invest in property and other cryptocurrencies."
With the value of bitcoin continuing to rise, some speculate that eventually Howells' lost coins will be worth a fortune and the city council will be obligated to allow a search.
"And obviously," Howells says, "they would get a nice percentage as a gift or donation."
- 47,097
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- Mar 19, 2013
Old head was telling me about that. Crazy
- 74,497
- 23,954
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- Apr 4, 2008
Took off half of my xrp and iota runners. Gonna grab grs. Looking like it’s gonna break ath and catch a 5 magnet.
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- Jul 18, 2012
Would anybody be down to start a NT mining pool ?
- 25,589
- 22,533
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2013
I think expectations of 1000x gains on a good coin are realistic.
You buy a coin, let's say at .005, all the coin has to do is get to. 05.
I have coins right now that I have almost that amount of gain in just a couple of weeks.
The problem is that I took some of the tall here to heart and I *****ed put and didn't bet the bank like I was planning on doing.
I purchased TRX at .001 and I put like 30 bucks.. I asked someone here and I hear this spill and said **** it. All I was looking was for the quick come up, buying 2k worth. If I would of have done that... I would of had had 12k right now.
- 34,982
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- Aug 4, 2005
- 74,497
- 23,954
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2008
Quick come god don’t work long term. Just invest a few hundred next time. Get good returns with minimal risk.
- 27,294
- 15,000
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- Oct 2, 2011
$1.04 
- 25,589
- 22,533
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2013
When they started
Ripple, which realisticly can hit 1.40 and that would be 1000% from the time I started watching it.
XVG which is at almost .07 and I know that's more than 1000% from the time it was mentioned, about 700% since I started watching it.
TRX, about 700% from the time I purchased it.
Someone just mentioned RDD, which is .014, is about social media coins. Seems like an interesting technology.
Etc ...
- 25,589
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- Jun 15, 2013
If I invested 2k and it went to 4k then 6k I would keep to see What else is doing ... but most likely would cash out at 10k which it surpassed already.
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- Apr 30, 2015
edit: about to look into this xrb,
- 1,312
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- May 7, 2015
XRP hits $1. WATTBA. 2018 is going to be different. I’m excited.
- 74,497
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- Apr 4, 2008
Just find your risk tolerance and focus on making good trades. Don’t chase money that’s when you get emotional and lose everything.
- 39,321
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- Dec 3, 2009
1.07$ and climbing
- 43,095
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- Dec 25, 2003
Thankful for this thread for bringing XRP to my attention when it was around .20.
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- Jun 1, 2014
What are you guys planning on doing with XRP? Hodl? Or sell and take profits elsewhere?
- 43,095
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- Dec 25, 2003
I'm Hodling right now, tempted to sell but it's still slowly climbing.
I'm pretty far ahead though considering my initial investments. Don't want to get too greedy.
I'm pretty far ahead though considering my initial investments. Don't want to get too greedy.
- 15,853
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- Apr 4, 2006
I finally took the plunge last night and learned how to buy altcoins on bittrex. Bought xrp using eth at $1.05 smh
- 74,497
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- Apr 4, 2008
I’ve already sold 2/3s of my position on the way up at .81 and .94. Gonna let this last third run as far as it can.
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- Dec 11, 2005
Wish we could get some type of sticky with the smaller altcoins to watch for 2018, im gonna have to bring a pen and pad on NT with me to keep track. new ones are mentioned every day but im not adding more money to my wallet til Friday lol
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- Dec 30, 2012
We eatin my NT fam!! Glad xrp finally over $1. Thank the lord!
- 25,589
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- Jun 15, 2013
Ya dudes must if have invested thousands ..
I'm like yeah XRP is u0 but I only put 80.
I'm like yeah XRP is u0 but I only put 80.
- 27,294
- 15,000
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- Oct 2, 2011
Still moving.
We’ll be at $3 by mid Jan
We’ll be at $3 by mid Jan
