By Free Republic | Created at 2024-11-26 23:47:10 | Updated at 2024-11-29 06:55:28
2 days ago
Woman Who Accidentally Threw Away Ex's £569 Million in Bitcoin Says 'I'm Sick of Hearing About it'
Wales Online ^ | 25 NOV 2024 | Lydia Royce, Kelly-Ann Mills
Posted on 11/26/2024 3:15:58 PM PST by nickcarraway
Hafina Eddy-Evans says she took a hard drive to the tip having no idea it contained 8,000 bitcoins, mined by former partner James Howells back in 2009
Hafina Eddy-Evans has recounted the unfortunate moment she realised she had mistakenly thrown away a fortune, and how she broke the news to her former boyfriend that his wealth was lost. She admitted to disposing of an old hard drive at a Welsh dump, unaware it contained a trove of 8,000 Bitcoins, mined by James Howells in 2009, and now valued at a jaw-dropping £569million.
Howell is currently embroiled in a legal battle for permission to scour the Newport Council landfill site where Hafina claims she discarded the hard drive about ten years ago. Despite their separation, Hafina told Mail Online she hopes he succeeds in his quest—not for a share of the windfall but to finally silence him. She explained: "Yes, I threw away his rubbish, he asked me to. The computer part had been disposed of in a black sack along with other unwanted belongings and he begged me to take it away. I had no idea what was in it but I reluctantly dropped it off at the local tip on the way home from going on the school run."
James Howells, 38 (pictured) has launched a legal fight to retrieve the bitcoin wallet accidentally thrown out during an office clear out. (Image: WALES NEWS SERVICE) She added: "I thought he should be running his errands, not me, but I did it to help out. Losing it was not my fault. I'd love nothing more than him to find it. I'm sick and tired of hearing about it."
In his relentless pursuit, James Howells is taking the council to court, hoping to recover the digital 'key' to his Bitcoin fortune, believed to be entombed within 110,000 tons of trash under grass-covered land, reports the Mirror.
The 'lost' fortune, now valued at a staggering £569m in Bitcoin, has led the man to promise he'll give back 10 per cent to his local community. Ms Eddy-Evans, a mother of two, shared her conflicted feelings: "Part of me thinks the council should let the tip site be dug up, it's not helping his mental health with the thoughts of sitting in a fortune he can't get. But the other part thinks for him just to drop it and let it go."
She firmly stated: "I have no claim on whatever money he could be worth. He is the father of my two sons but I don't want a penny of his money." Join our WhatsApp news community here for the latest breaking news. You will receive updates from us daily.
A spokesperson for Newport City Council responded to the ongoing saga, saying: "[The] Council has been contacted multiple times since 2013 about the possibility of retrieving a piece of IT hardware said to be in our landfill site."
They continued: "The council has told Mr Howells multiple times that excavation is not possible under our environmental permit, and that work of that nature would have a huge negative environmental impact on the surrounding area."
The council also clarified its position on the matter: "The council is the only body authorised to carry out operations on the site. Mr Howells's claim has no merit, and the council is vigorously resisting it."
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Local News; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: bitcoin; bitcoins; computer; wales
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Good thing she dumped him. He was skint.
1 posted on 11/26/2024 3:15:58 PM PST by nickcarraway
To: nickcarraway
Could never be around a woman like that ever again. Always see her as the one who threw away 569 million dollars.
2 posted on 11/26/2024 3:22:13 PM PST by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; not averse to Going Bronson.)
To: nickcarraway
"Hafina Eddy-Evans has recounted the unfortunate moment she realized she had mistakenly thrown away a fortune."
Sounds to me like it is his problem and not hers. Why would a reasonable person allow an ex-anything access to something of that value? Why wasn't it already in a safe deposit box?
3 posted on 11/26/2024 3:26:05 PM PST by Retain Mike ( Sat Cong)
To: nickcarraway
He should have had that hard drive stored somewhere very safe with what he had on it.
If he had cleared out the stuff himself, this wouldn’t have happened but he begged her to do it for him.
His dumb move.
4 posted on 11/26/2024 3:27:53 PM PST by metmom (He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” uitAmen. Come, Lord Jesus”)
To: nickcarraway
Who knows what really happened to the disk?
5 posted on 11/26/2024 3:28:37 PM PST by MosesKnows
To: nickcarraway
Do bit coins rely side on your hard disk?
You can have corporate stock sent to your home. The alternative is to keep it “in street name.” Essentially, your stockbroker has a record of your stock ownership. Buying and selling is much, much easier that way. I assumed it worked that way with bitcoin.
6 posted on 11/26/2024 3:28:57 PM PST by ChessExpert (The Democratic party must be destroyed.)
To: nickcarraway
It was his fault for letting it out of his sight/control.
7 posted on 11/26/2024 3:30:47 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (The worst thing about censorship is █████ ██ ████ ████ ████ █ ███████ ████. FJB.)
To: nickcarraway
That begs an answer to a bigger question, where are the bitcoins now? We know who asserts they no longer have them but then who or what does and where?
8 posted on 11/26/2024 3:31:34 PM PST by MosesKnows
To: metmom
His dumb move
Perhaps her smart move.
9 posted on 11/26/2024 3:33:17 PM PST by MosesKnows
To: Retain Mike
I thin they were still together at the time, but obviously he should have been a lot more careful.
To: nickcarraway
How is that bit coin working out for him? It is so simple to lose it forever. Where does it end up in the end. No one knows. Someone dies and their fortune can not be inherited if they don’t have “The Wallet”.
11 posted on 11/26/2024 3:35:23 PM PST by Revel
To: nickcarraway
Don’t they go to a wallet or something ?
12 posted on 11/26/2024 3:36:20 PM PST by butlerweave
To: Revel
Nice forBitcoin, isn’t it.
They get to keep that money.
13 posted on 11/26/2024 3:41:54 PM PST by metmom (He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” uitAmen. Come, Lord Jesus”)
To: metmom
He should have had that hard drive stored somewhere very safe with what he had on it.
Bitcoin was almost worthless in 2009. 8000 bitcoins had a value of about $8 back then.
He didn't take precautionary measures because he didn't think they were necessary.
What about the guy in Florida who paid 10,000 bitcoin for a pizza in 2010? That was a $900,000,000 pizza.
To: MosesKnows
That begs an answer to a bigger question, where are the bitcoins now? We know who asserts they no longer have them but then who or what does and where?
They exist as 0s and 1s on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Without the encryption keys to access them, they will remain there until the last Bitcoin server dies.
15 posted on 11/26/2024 3:43:03 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (The worst thing about censorship is █████ ██ ████ ████ ████ █ ███████ ████. FJB.)
To: Revel
How is that bit coin working out for him? It is so simple to lose it forever. Where does it end up in the end. No one knows.
The bitcoin still exists in the blockchain, except nobody knows the passcode. It's on the guy's hard drive in the landfill.
To: ChessExpert
Do bit coins rely side on your hard disk?
when this man bought his bitcoin - yes, the bitcoin simply resided on your hard-drive. It was the only way. In 2011, the FBI raided and arrested a man named Ross Ulbricht, a man who created a marketplace for goods, both legal and illegal, which used bitcoin as the currency. He still sits in jail today, and of course the FBI still holds the 28,000 bitcoins they seized.
Now Wall Street has bitcoin ETFs. It shows what the state will do to people who go against their power.
When this Welsh man lost his bitcoin in 2013, the average price was around $100 each.
Now there are many custodians who hold bitcoin for clients, much like stock certificates. while this business was developing, there were many shady actors who might steal or loan-out your bitcoin, or be hacked and have your bitcoin stolen.
17 posted on 11/26/2024 3:46:27 PM PST by PGR88
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