A High-Tech Mission To Recover $278M In Bitcoin Fortune Thrown into Landfill 10 Years Ago

James Howells, an Information Technology (IT) system engineer, recently disclosed plans to recover his Bitcoin holdings, which were accidentally trashed into a landfill ten years ago. 

According to INDEPENDENT, the 37-year-old IT expert vowed to involve sophisticated artificial intelligence technologies and every legal means that would be crucial in helping him recover his long-lost crypto asset. “I’ve tried for ten years to be nice, now we need to go to battle,” James remarked.

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Origin Of James’s Predicament

The whole saga dates back to 2013 after Mr James’s bag, with hardware from an old laptop, went missing in his hallway. According to him, the hardware contained 8000 Bitcoins and was mistakenly disposed of by his ex-partner. 

“I was doing a clear-out in my office and put a lot of items into a bag, which I then placed at the front door of my house. I woke up the next morning, and my ex-partner had already taken the bags to the landfill site; she thought she was doing me a favor. It wasn’t her fault.” James narrated. 

The IT system expert lamented that despite concrete efforts aimed at meeting with the Newport City board senior leadership to grant him permissive access to the landfill, the council seemed poised to frustrate him, leaving him with no choice other than involving legal practitioners. 

“Over the last ten years, I’ve always tried to engage with Newport City Council in a businesslike manner. They are the site owner, they are the operator, and they own the permit for the landfill, so I’ve always wanted to be friends with them and work with them,” James remarked. 

James Spills Other Recovery Plans

Aside from opting for legal procedures in the law court, the IT engineer stated that he has set up a squad of environmental health and data recovery experts to help in his quest to recover his lost assets. 

He added that the team would adopt AI models in operating the mechanical arm that would be crucial in sorting out the mounds of rubbish. In addition, robot dogs were also employed to ensure that potential thieves do not get access to the lost hard drive.

Read Also: Man Who Acquired 6,000 BTC at $5 Lost Access after Cleaner Unknowingly Discarded Access Codes

What James Hopes To Do With The Tokens If Recovered

Based on current market standings, Bitcoin is changing hands at $34,772.23, implying that 8,000 BTC will be worth approximately $278 million.

Should James be successful in his recovery efforts, the IT expert noted that he would convert Newport into the United Kingdom’s first crypto hub. He added that he will gift its inhabitants £50 in BTC each. 

He also wants to establish crypto point-of-sale machines in all the self-reliant stores in Newport, in a bid to bring BTC closer to the local community. It is left to see how events turn out, especially the legal procedures.

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