The World’s Most Expensive Bitcoin Treasure Hunt

11 years and counting, with over $880 million at stake.

Image by Tashik at Freepik (AI-generated image).

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Losing access to your private keys for your Bitcoin wallet.

It’s one of the most harrowing experiences for any Bitcoin investor, especially during the days when you could mine up to 50 BTC per block reward on a CPU, back when it was billions of times less energy-intensive and easier than using ASIC miners.

Unfortunately for a Welsh man, he’s still having to cope with a massive loss.

James Howells accidentally discarded an encrypted hard drive containing 8,000 BTC in 2013.

Back then, it was chump change (at least in early 2013), akin to when Laszlo Hanyecz dropped 10,000 BTC, approximately $41 in May 2010, on two pizzas.

Many of you have likely heard the story on and off, so I’ll stick to more recent and significant details.

Drastic measures

In January 2021, he offered $70 million to the council, despite his unreachable Bitcoin stash being valued at $235 million…