扔掉價值8億美元的比特幣的人正在努力恢復失去的財富

來自威爾士紐波特的計算機科學分析師詹姆斯·豪威爾斯（James Howells）花了十多年的時間與地方當局作鬥爭以搜查大規模廢物網站

A British man who accidentally threw away a hard drive containing Bitcoin now worth around $800 million is making a last-ditch effort to recover his lost fortune — offering to buy the landfill where it was dumped before the site is permanently shut down.

一名不小心扔掉了一個裝有比特幣的硬盤驅動器，現在價值約8億美元的硬盤正在做出最後的努力，以恢復失去的財富 - 願意在該地點永久關閉之前購買垃圾填埋場。

James Howells, a computer science analyst from Newport, Wales, has spent over a decade battling local authorities for permission to search the massive waste site where he believes his missing hard drive is buried. With the Newport City Council preparing to close the landfill, Howells is making a final plea.

來自威爾士紐波特的計算機科學分析師詹姆斯·豪威爾斯（James Howells）花了十多年的時間與地方當局作鬥爭，以搜查大規模的廢物網站，他認為他缺少的硬盤被埋葬了。隨著紐波特市議會準備關閉垃圾填埋場，豪威爾斯（Howells）提出了最後的認罪。

Howells' ordeal began in 2013 when he mistakenly discarded the hard drive while cleaning out his office. A miscommunication with his then-partner led to the device — containing the only copy of his 51-character private key necessary to access his Bitcoin wallet — being unknowingly thrown away.

豪威爾斯（Howells）的磨難始於2013年，當時他在清理辦公室時錯誤地丟棄了硬盤驅動器。與當時的合夥人的溝通不暢導致了該設備，這是他在不知不覺中被扔掉的唯一一本可訪問他的比特幣錢包所需的51個字符的私鑰副本。

Back in the late 2000s, when cryptocurrency was still in its infancy, Howells mined Bitcoin as a hobby. He only realized his devastating mistake months later, by which time Bitcoin's value had surged.

早在2000年代後期，加密貨幣仍處於起步階段，豪威爾斯將比特幣作為一種愛好。幾個月後，他才意識到自己毀滅性的錯誤，到那時比特幣的價值飆升了。

Since then, he has repeatedly attempted to recover the device, even offering to fund an excavation and share 25% of the Bitcoin's value with the Newport City Council. However, local authorities have consistently denied his requests. A judge previously ruled that Howells had “no reasonable grounds” for legal action and stated there was “no realistic prospect” of success if the case proceeded to trial.

從那以後，他一再試圖恢復該設備，甚至提供為發掘提供資金，並與紐波特市議會分享比特幣價值的25％。但是，地方當局一直否認他的要求。法官此前裁定，豪威爾斯對法律行動沒有“合理的理由”，並表示，如果案件進行審判，就沒有“現實的前景”。

Now, as the landfill's closure approaches, Howells is hoping that purchasing the site will finally allow him to search for his long-lost Bitcoin fortune.

現在，隨著垃圾填埋場的關閉臨近，豪威爾斯（Howells）希望購買該網站最終將使他能夠搜索他那些長期的比特幣財富。

“This needle is very, very, very valuable — $800 million,” he said, according to SWNS. “Which means I’m willing to search every piece of hay in order to find the needle.”

SWNS說：“這條針非常非常非常有價值 - 8億美元。” “這意味著我願意搜索每片乾草以找到針頭。”

But the Newport City Council has warned that the chances of locating the 12-year-old hard drive remain slim.

但是紐波特市議會警告說，找到12歲的硬盤驅動器的機會仍然很苗條。

“The site is due to be closed imminently and, once closed, there will be no realistic prospect of retrieving the drive,” a spokesperson for the council told SWNS.

該委員會發言人告訴SWNS：“該地點將立即關閉，一旦關閉，就沒有現實的前景來取回驅動器。”

“The site is also set to be capped and landscaped, making any future attempt to locate the drive even less likely to succeed.”

“該地點還將被封頂和景觀，這使得將來將其定位的任何嘗試都降低了成功的可能性。”

Undeterred, Howells is refusing to give up, believing that buried beneath the landfill's mountains of waste could be one of the most valuable lost fortunes in history.

豪威爾斯毫不猶豫地拒絕放棄，認為將其埋在垃圾填埋場的廢物山下可能是歷史上最有價值的失落命運之一。