For eight years, a man searched a hard disk containing 7,500 Bitcoins in a garbage heap. It all started in 2013 when he just realized he had thrown away a hard disk containing Bitcoin which at that time was worth USD 665 thousand or around Rp. 9.6 billion. Currently, its value is more than IDR 5 trillion.
The man’s name was James Howell. Howell finally decided to go down to the Waste Disposal Site (TPA), which was as wide as a football field and filled with other garbage.
“I spoke to one of the people there, explaining the situation. And he literally took me out in his truck to the dumps, the trench they were working on,” Howell said in an interview with the Guardian in 2013.
He also admitted that he was at the point where he really wanted to give up and cry, but he kept trying to find his hard disk. He did his own quest and still believed in hope.
Howell even recruited local townspeople to join the search for the hard disk he threw away with the promise of millions of dollars if found. However, Newport board members turned down volunteers who wanted to go to the landfill.
Howell could try, but no results from his search to date. As a side note, Bitcoins are untraceable and their owners cannot back up wallets.
With the enormous value of Bitcoin, it’s only natural for Howell to feel sad. We pray that we meet soon, come on.