That brings us to the story of James Howells, a Welsh IT worker who tossed out a hard drive in 2013. The only problem? That hard drive contained the private key to 7,500 Bitcoins worth $52.7 million! The hard drive ended up in a soccer field sized landfill in Wales buried beneath tons of recyclable waste. Howells reportedly threw away the hard drive by accident when he was cleaning up his desk. Howells told the Guardian: In the time since Howells tossed his hard drive, the cryptocurrency’s value has soared. Bitcoin was founded in 2009. Howells ran a program for using the digital currency on his laptop for about a week that made the laptop too hot and noisy to use. In 2010, Howells’ laptop broke so he took it apart for parts. Most of the parts were thrown out or sold, but he kept the hard drive for three years. Then one day in 2013, he cleared out his desk and tossed away the key to more than $52 million. If there is one lesson to be learned from Howells folly, back up your hard drives regularly!
