Bitcoin hype: This Briton has "thrown away" $ 100 million

The Welshman James Howells threw away a hard drive a few years ago that contained 7,500 bitcoins - now worth about $ 100 million.

Bitcoin: If $ 100 million ends up in the garbage

The hype surrounding cryptocurrency Bitcoin, which has gained more than 1,000 percent this year alone, has produced winners like the Winklevoss twins, but also losers - like the Welshman James Howells. Its history is not new, but has gained more drama in recent weeks. With prices rising and falling and the Winklevoss brothers becoming Bitcoin billionaires, the value of Howells' assets could now have climbed to over $ 100 million.

Instead, Howells currently has little more than that story: The IT expert was one of the very first Bitcoin miners. Howells scrapped 7,500 bitcoins after launching the cryptocurrency. When the laptop that he used for mining had broken, he dismantled the device and sold the items, as the British Telegraph reports. The hard disk on which the wallet with the Bitcoins was kept Howells initially still, but at some point threw it away carelessly.

At the end of 2013, this story of the "thrown away" millions - at that time the cryptocurrency had already been worth about $ 1,000 for a short time - had made the rounds. At that time, it was well over $ 7.5 million and Howells had begun a search on the dump in southern Wales, where his hard drive is likely to be.

Hard disk with Bitcoin treasure since 2013 on the garbage dump

The search was unsuccessful four years ago and the discovery of the since then lying on the garbage dump hard drive should be much harder today. However, the incentive has also increased - by about 13 times. To scrutinize the garbage dump, Howells needs to get approval from the city of Newport, as the standard writes. With the current Bitcoin value, this should be easier than it was a year ago.