The Man Who Lost 8000 BTC Revealed Robot Dog Masterplan To Recover Fortune
Categories: Crypto News US
The Man Who Lost 8000 BTC Revealed Robot Dog Masterplan To Recover Fortune
It's been nine years since James Howells, an IT engineer from the Welsh city of Newport, accidentally dumped a hard drive containing 8000 BTC. According to the latest update to this saga from Business Insider, the Howells had two identical hard drives stored in a drawer in 2013. One was empty and the other held around 8000 BTC, worth US$552 million at one stage.
He intended to throw away the empty one, but mistakenly disposed of the one containing the bitcoins, which ended up at the local municipal dump. Despite their best efforts, they have been repeatedly denied access, with local officials arguing that it would be too costly and harmful to the environment. After several failed attempts, Howells has now devised a new approach, backed by US$11 million in venture capital, which he hopes to present to the council in the coming weeks.
In a nutshell, he intends to sift through 110,000 tons of waste trained to look for hard drives on a conveyor belt through a combination of human sorters, robotic dogs and an artificial intelligence-powered machine. There are apparently two versions of his plan, depending on what the council approves. The more expensive version would take three years and cost US$11 million, while a shorter version would cost US$6 million over 18 months.
In a rather typical bureaucratic fashion, a council representative told Business Insider: "There is nothing Mr Howells can present to us that will make the council agree", adding: "His proposals pose significant ecological risks. which we cannot accept and are actually prevented from considering the terms of our permit." If successful, the recovery team will receive 30 percent of the proceeds, with Howell and investors retaining 30 percent each.
The balance would then be shared among each of Newport's 150,000 residents. In the absence of council approval and as a last resort, Howell is set to go to court to gain access to the dump, saying: "I have been reluctant to go down that route in the past because I did not want to be problems", insisting that he "wanted to work with Newport City Council".