黃金硬盤：長達十年的尋寶活動在英國上訴法院結束

3月13日，一個持續十年的尋寶傳奇在英國上訴法院結束。

A British software engineer's hopes of recovering a hard drive containing 8,000 bitcoins, valued at a small fortune, from a landfill in Newport have been dashed by the Court of Appeal, concluding a saga that began over a decade ago, according to a report by Foresight News.

根據《預先新聞報導》的報導，一位英國軟件工程師希望從紐波特的一個垃圾填埋場中恢復一個裝有8,000只比特幣的硬盤驅動器，上訴法院已經打破了十年前開始的傳奇。

At the peak price of bitcoin (BTC) at $109,000, the bitcoins stored on that hard drive were once valued at over $872 million, making it the most expensive hard drive in history.

以比特幣（BTC）的高峰價格為109,000美元，存儲在硬盤上的比特幣曾經價值超過8.72億美元，使其成為歷史上最昂貴的硬盤驅動器。

This peculiar legal tug-of-war is as dramatic as the plot of Mark Twain's novel "The Million Pound Bank Note," but Howells was not the protagonist of a novel and ultimately did not become a billionaire.

這款奇特的法律拖船戰線與馬克·吐溫（Mark Twain）的小說《百萬英鎊鈔票》的情節一樣引人注目，但是豪威爾斯（Howells）並不是小說的主角，最終並未成為億萬富翁。

The Birth and Loss of the Golden Hard Drive

黃金硬盤的出生和損失

The story begins in 2009. At that time, bitcoin had just been born and was still a little-known novelty. Young IT engineer Howells keenly sensed its potential, having been passionate about technology since childhood. It is known that his mother worked in the microchip production field, and from his teenage years, he frequently used the internet and began assembling computers at the age of 13, showcasing remarkable technical talent. He later attended university to study computer-related subjects and worked in various IT-related jobs, including exposure to cryptography in the Bowman communication systems project.

這個故事始於2009年。當時，比特幣剛剛出生，仍然是一個鮮為人知的新穎性。年輕的IT工程師豪威爾斯（Howells）敏銳地感受到了其潛力，從小就一直對技術充滿熱情。眾所周知，他的母親在Microchip生產領域工作，從他的十幾歲開始，他經常使用互聯網，並在13歲時開始組裝計算機，展示了出色的技術人才。後來，他上了大學學習與計算機相關的學科，並從事與IT相關的各種工作，包括在Bowman通信系統項目中接觸密碼學。

On January 4, 2009, bitcoin was officially born, and at that time, the mining difficulty was extremely low. The New York Times mentioned that Howells might have been one of only five miners in the world at that time. He mined a total of 8,000 bitcoins using a regular Dell XPS laptop from home.

2009年1月4日，比特幣正式出生，當時，採礦難度極低。 《紐約時報》提到豪威爾斯當時可能是世界上僅有的五個礦工之一。他使用常規的Dell XPS筆記本電腦從家裡開采了8,000個比特幣。

At that time, bitcoin was virtually worthless, and he did not pay much attention to it. Howells stored the private key on an old hard drive and casually tossed it into a drawer.

當時，比特幣幾乎毫無價值，而且他並沒有太多關注它。 Howells將私鑰存儲在舊的硬盤驅動器上，然後隨便將其扔進抽屜中。

Fast forward to 2013, the price of bitcoin began to soar, while Howells's life faced a catastrophic cleanup. His partner complained about the clutter in their home, prompting Howells to undertake a major tidying up. Unfortunately, the hard drive containing the bitcoin private key was mistakenly identified as broken junk and was thrown into the trash along with a pile of old electronics, eventually sent to a landfill on the outskirts of Newport, when bitcoin was valued at $13 each.

快進到2013年，比特幣的價格開始飆升，而豪威爾斯的生活面臨著災難性的清理。他的伴侶抱怨他們家中的混亂，促使霍威爾進行了重大的整理。不幸的是，包含比特幣私鑰的硬盤被錯誤地識別為破碎的垃圾，並與一堆舊電子產品一起扔進了垃圾，最終被送往紐波特郊區的垃圾填埋場，當時比特幣的價值為13美元。

"I had no idea what I had lost at that time," Howells later recalled, "until a few months later when the price of bitcoin skyrocketed, I realized—my wealth was buried in a garbage heap."

豪威爾斯後來回憶說：“我當時不知道那時我失去了什麼，直到幾個月後，當比特幣的價格飛漲時，我意識到 - 我的財富被埋葬在垃圾堆中。”

BTC rose from $13 to $100,000, an increase of over 7,700 times.

BTC從13美元上漲至100,000美元，增加了7,700次。

From Shock to Action: The Long Legal Battle

從震驚到行動：長期的法律鬥爭

By the end of 2013, when the price of bitcoin surpassed $1,000, Howells realized that what he had thrown away might be a gold mine. By the end of 2024, bitcoin briefly exceeded $100,000, making those 8,000 bitcoins worth $800 million, a staggering fortune. Thus, he began negotiations with the Newport City Council, hoping to be allowed to excavate the landfill.

到2013年底，當比特幣的價格超過1,000美元時，豪威爾斯意識到他被扔掉的東西可能是金礦。到2024年底，比特幣短暫超過了100,000美元，這使8,000個比特幣價值8億美元，這是一筆驚人的財富。因此，他開始與紐波特市議會進行談判，希望允許挖掘垃圾填埋場。

However, the council's response was cold. They stated that the landfill had accumulated hundreds of thousands of tons of garbage, and excavation would not only be costly but could also release harmful gases, endangering the environment and public health. Howells did not give up; he offered to fund the excavation himself and assemble a professional team, even promising to donate part of the proceeds to the local community, but was still flatly rejected.

但是，理事會的回應很冷。他們說，垃圾填埋場積累了數十萬噸的垃圾，發掘不僅是昂貴的，而且可能會釋放有害氣體，危害環境和公共衛生。豪威爾斯沒有放棄；他提出自己為發掘工作提供資金，並組建一支專業團隊，甚至承諾將部分收益捐贈給當地社區，但仍被拒絕。

Unwilling to accept defeat, Howells turned to the law. Over the years, he navigated through various levels of courts in the UK, trying to force the council to concede on the grounds of property rights. His legal team was creative, arguing that the hard drive was a modern-day treasure and should rightfully belong to its original owner. Unfortunately, the court did not buy it. The trial court ruled that once garbage is discarded, ownership transfers, and excavation permits fall under the jurisdiction of local authorities.

豪威爾斯不願接受失敗，轉向法律。多年來，他在英國的各個級別的法院中航行，試圖迫使理事會以財產權為由承認。他的法律團隊很有創造力，認為硬盤是現代的寶藏，應該屬於其原始所有者。不幸的是，法院沒有購買。初審法院裁定，一旦垃圾被丟棄，所有權轉移，發掘允許允許屬於地方當局的管轄範圍。

Appeal Fails: The Court's Final Ruling

上訴失敗：法院的最終裁決

On March 13, the UK Court of Appeal ruled on Howells's appeal, upholding the original decision. The judges pointed out in their ruling that environmental protection and public safety take precedence over individual property rights, and there was no evidence to suggest that the hard drive could still be found or that the data could be recovered. The court even quipped that even if bitcoin were worth a fortune, it could not turn a landfill into a gold mine.

3月13日，英國上訴法院裁定霍威爾斯的上訴，堅持原始裁決。法官在裁定中指出，環境保護和公共安全優先於個人財產權，沒有證據表明仍然可以找到硬盤驅動器或可以收回數據。法院甚至打趣道，即使比特幣值得一筆巨款，也無法將垃圾填埋為金礦。

After the ruling was announced, Howells could not hide his disappointment. He stated, "I respect the court's decision, but that doesn't mean I will give up. My bitcoins are still there, and one day I will

宣布該裁決後，豪威爾斯無法掩蓋他的失望。他說：“我尊重法院的決定，但這並不意味著我會放棄。我的比特幣仍然在那裡，有一天我會