Woman Accidentally Throws Away Ex-Boyfriend’s $788 Million Bitcoin Fortune

Halfina Eddy-Evans, a United Kingdom resident, accidentally threw away a hard drive containing her ex-boyfriend’s Bitcoin fortune, currently worth over $788 million.

The costly mistake happened during a cleanup of their home in 2013. Unknown to her, the hard drive had a digital wallet with 8,000 BTC, valued at $788 million with BTC’s current value. Stressing that it was not her fault, she said:

“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, saying, “There’s a bag of rubbish here to be taken to the tip.” [. . .] I’d love nothing more than him to find it. I’m sick and tired of hearing about it.”

The couple have since split.

An Expensive Garbage

Once he realized the importance of what she discarded, her ex-boyfriend, James Howells, who lives in Newport, started searching for the hard drive. He took legal action, suing Newport City Council for permission to dig up the landfill on which the hard drive had been discarded. He also promised to donate a large portion of the fortune to charity if he recovered it.

Newport City Council has consistently refused his request to search the landfill. They stated that such digging is not allowed under their environmental permit and that it would harm the area. Despite this, Howells filed a lawsuit against the council, asking for $622 million. He claims the council is keeping his property without permission.

The council argues they informed him in 2013 that digging at the landfill was not possible as they noted the impracticality of the search and potential environmental harm.

BTC Now Above $98k

Bitcoin’s value has skyrocketed over the years, turning what seemed like a small mistake into a huge financial disaster. Back in 2013, when Eddy-Evans accidentally threw away the hard drive, Bitcoin was worth around $100 each. Fast-forward to today, and the apex crypto asset’s value has surged to as high as $99,600 per coin.

This huge increase in value could be why Howells is so determined to retrieve the hard drive from the landfill. The rise in BTC’s price has transformed the situation, turning what was once a lost asset into a million-dollar fortune.

As of this writing, BTC’s value sat at $98,000, representing a 1.22% increase in the past 24 hours.