8,000 BTC buried in the landfill and other horror stories of the lost coins

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In 2013, a British man’s girlfriend mistakenly discarded a hard drive containing approximately 8,000 bitcoins. Despite years of legal efforts to recover the drive from the landfill, he was unsuccessful. Five such instances serve as a stark reminder for us all to handle our cryptocurrency assets prudently.

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How not to dump bitcoins: James Howells case

As a researcher, I’ve been following the saga of the Welsh IT worker whose hard drive containing thousands of Bitcoins was discarded and ended up in a landfill for years. For all this time, he has been desperately attempting to regain access to the waste site where his fortunes lie undisturbed. Regrettably, it appears that on January 9, 2025, this story reached its unfortunate end.

James Howells, a resident of Newport, became aware of Bitcoin in approximately 2009 and attempted mining for a short period before losing interest in cryptocurrency for several years. Later on, he accidentally spilled liquids onto his computer, causing him to disassemble it while saving the hard disk. Reportedly, this disk holds a private key to Howells’ Bitcoin wallet. In 2013, his girlfriend, Halfina Eddy-Evans, inadvertently discarded another hard drive.

Here’s what Eddy-Evans told Daily Mail in an exclusive interview:

He asked me to discard the old computer, which was placed in a black trash bag alongside other unnecessary items. He pleaded with me, saying, “Here’s a bag full of waste that needs to go to the dumpster.

Unaware of its contents, I hesitantly deposited it at the local waste disposal facility on my journey back from dropping off the kids at school. I felt that the task should have been his responsibility rather than mine, but I took care of it to lend a hand. It wasn’t my fault that it got lost.

In due time, Howells discovered that the roughly 8,000 BTC he had mined earlier were now worth millions. He made an effort to locate a crucial disk, but his search proved unsuccessful. Following a thorough probe, he deduced that a hard drive containing his private key was buried in the Docksway landfill located in Wales. The estimated weight of waste in this landfill exceeds 1.4 million tons.

Howells, together with a group of experts, devised a strategy for digging up the site. Despite Howells’ intention to finance the project himself and give 25% or 30% to the Newport City Council and local residents, officials denied him permission, raising concerns about environmental damage. The excavation might have sparked fires and emitted harmful gases.

2025 saw Howells filing a lawsuit against Newport City Council. In his legal notice, he sought either the right to inspect the city’s landfill or a £495 million settlement. However, on January 9, 2025, it was announced that the High Court had dismissed the case due to a lack of prospects for success.

As a researcher, I’m pondering over the estimated value of Howells’ Bitcoins at one point, which was approximately $750 million. However, the likelihood of a successful site search seems uncertain. The question arises: Is it plausible that the hard disk in question is still functional? Additionally, could it possibly be found within the Docksway landfill? The existence of this disk itself is doubtful. Another intriguing query: What led to Howells and Halfina’s separation? So many unanswered questions…

IronKey on my back: the Stephan Thomas case

The story of Stephan Thomas, a US programmer with German heritage, is another infamous tale in the cryptocurrency world. In 2011, he was compensated in Bitcoin for producing an educational animated video about the digital currency. Thomas chose to save his substantial earnings of 7,002 BTC (approximately $5,300 at the time) on an IronKey USB hardware wallet.

Hardware wallets are known for being the most secure method to keep bitcoins. Unfortunately, Thomas misplaced the document containing his password, leading IronKey to permanently seal off his coins after ten unsuccessful attempts. Despite his best efforts, including consulting cryptography experts and even undergoing hypnosis, he was unable to crack the code after eight tries. Fortunately, Thomas began working for Ripple in 2012 and has since accumulated a significant amount of crypto without repeating his previous mistakes.

Crypto wallet forgets the password: Peter Schiff case

On January 19, 2020, Bitcoin skeptic Peter Schiff, who is also a gold advocate and Europac‘s chief economist, posted on X a screenshot from his cryptocurrency wallet app. The image indicated that he was unable to enter the correct password due to an issue where his password had expired and the wallet apparently got damaged in some way. His caption explained this situation.

I did not forget my password. Read my tweet. My wallet forgot my password.

— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) January 19, 2020

As a crypto investor, I found myself reconsidering my decision to invest in Bitcoin after some enthusiasts shared their insights or extended assistance. However, when CEO of Professional Capital Management Anthony Pompliano jokingly suggested I might have forgotten my password, I clarified that it wasn’t about forgetting the password – rather, it was my wallet that seemed to have lost access to my Bitcoin.

In another instance, when Tech CEO Rahul Sood inquired about Schiff’s seed phrase, Schiff responded that he had never possessed one. A few days later, Schiff confessed that he had confused his PIN with a password, but maintained that he was still unable to retrieve his cryptocurrency. Given the economist’s admission that he didn’t save his password or seed phrase, this situation isn’t particularly surprising.

Because all of the Bitcoins in my corrupted wallet were given to me, it’s not such a significant loss for me when they disappear. The saying “Easy come, easy go” really applies to #Bitcoin. I intended to HODL and ride the wave regardless, but now it seems that Bitcoin’s crash occurred before mine did.

— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) January 19, 2020

Fortunately, he mentioned that the situation wasn’t devastating for him since the Bitcoins in his wallet were gifts, and his strategy was to hold onto them until Bitcoin prices dropped. It’s worth noting that when this event occurred, Bitcoin was valued at approximately $8,600. This narrative serves as a reminder that regardless of one’s standing in the financial realm, careless use of cryptocurrency apps can lead to losing your digital assets.

Orange paper: Mark Frauenfelder case

Mark Frauenfelder, who was among Wired’s early writers and a co-founder of BoingBoing, narrated his tale in Wired. In January 2016, he invested $3,000 to purchase around 7.4 Bitcoins (BTC). As the BTC price surged significantly, he prudently transferred his cryptocurrency into a hardware wallet provided by Trezor for secure storage. He jotted down a 24-word recovery phrase on an orange sheet of paper and created an easy-to-recall PIN code, which he placed beside the recovery phrase.

During his vacation, a cleaning service worker discarded an orange-colored piece of paper. Back in 2017, with Bitcoin’s price soaring, Mark chose to transfer his cryptocurrency holdings, only to discover later that he had forgotten the PIN code.

One of Trezor’s characteristics is that every wrongly input PIN increases the time you have to wait before trying again, exponentially. Eventually, Mark encountered a waiting period lasting an hour. It was then he opted to reach out to customer service. Unfortunately, without the seed phrase on the same misplaced piece of paper, they were unable to assist him. After enduring four hours under hypnosis, Frauenfelder managed to remember the PIN, but unfortunately it was incorrect. This led to a block on his wallet that lasted 18 hours.

In the realm of IT, Frauenfelder was previously connected with prominent figures in fintech. One of these experts suggested that Mark should reach out to Saleem Rashid, a renowned hacker, for assistance. Rashid successfully hacked Trezor, obtaining both a PIN and a seed phrase. However, it’s important to note that the version of the wallet he hacked is no longer active, with subsequent versions being deemed secure. For your safety, please make sure to store backup data carefully.

Professor learned the lesson: Alexander Halavais case 

Alexander Halavais, a professor of social technology at Arizona State University, purchased approximately $70 worth of Bitcoin back in 2010 during a class for graduates as part of the learning experience. At first, he didn’t pay much attention to these digital coins, leading him to eventually lose access to his wallet.

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2025-01-12 22:18