A woman accidentally threw away her boyfriend's £569m or £569m worth of Bitcoin 'keys'. Now the boyfriend is trying his best to get the bitcoins back. The matter is even being dragged to court.
Hafina Eddy-Evans dumped her ex-boyfriend James Howells' hard drive in a ditch in Wales. But she claims that she did it at the behest of her ex-boyfriend.
James Howells said he mined Bitcoin himself in 2009 and then forgot about it. But when he discovers that his 8,000 bitcoins are now worth around £569 million, he fights for permission to search the hard drive at a Newport council-run auction house.
Hafina didn't know what Bitcoin 'was' on the hard drive. One day James asks her to throw away some old things, including a hard drive. Hafina said, 'I didn't know what was in it, but I threw it away to help. It wasn't my fault.'
He added, 'I want him to find it, but I don't want his money. If he finds it, at least he won't talk about it to me again!'
Howells vows to take Newport Council to court to recover Bitcoin 'keys' He is claiming the right to find that treasure. That's where he believes his lost hard drive was accidentally dropped. He also promised to donate 10 percent of the money to the local community if his lost bitcoins are found.
She said her ex-partner had thrown away her unwanted belongings, including a computer component. Each had an important password.
Howells mined Bitcoin for 10 weeks and got 8 thousand Bitcoins. He did not know its value then and had to stop mining due to his partner's complaint. He kept his laptop in the bedroom and its fan noise disturbed his partner's sleep.
Then one day, Howells dropped a glass of lemonade on his laptop and it crashed. He sold the laptop parts and kept the hard drive, which contained all his photos and music. However, he could not copy the small file containing the Bitcoin password to the Apple computer, as it was not compatible with Apple's operating system. He later put the hard drive away and forgot about it for the next three years, as he was busy with work and family life.
Currently, the price of Bitcoin has increased and reached 80 thousand dollars. As a result, Howells' lost bitcoins are now worth around £569 million.
According to James Howells, the hard drive was neglected for 3 years after it was thrown away. But now he believes that it can be a huge donation now. He sued Newport Council for permission to locate the wreck and recover his lost property.
Hafina said, 'I want him to find it, but I don't have anything to do with the money. I don't want his money. He is the father of my two sons, but I don't want a single penny from him.'
References: Daily Mail
