Bitcoin, which has been on the market for about 14 years, stands out as the most known cryptocurrency today. Bitcoin, which has a market value of almost 600 billion dollars, finds buyers at 30 thousand 614 dollars as of 12:00 on June 24. Bitcoin, which reached an all-time high of $ 68,789 in November 2021, was not always this high. The cryptocurrency was trading at just $13 at the start of 2013.
At that time, many people did not anticipate that Bitcoin would appreciate so much. Perhaps the inability to predict that Bitcoin prices will rise has caused some people to ignore the Bitcoins they own and lose their wealth. Some forgot the passwords of the hard disks or electronic wallets containing the coins bought when the prices were very low, while others accidentally threw the hard disks containing the cryptocurrencies into the trash. A study has revealed that almost one-fifth of the Bitcoins found in the world are lost in this way.
James Howell is unable to reach the $240 million cryptocurrency fortune. Photo: BBCMILLIONS OF DOLLAR WASTE
One of the most famous of these stories is undoubtedly that of James Howell, who lives in Wales. A mistake Howell made while cleaning his office in 2013 caused it to be valued at $240 million today. One of the two hard drives he found in his office drawer contained files belonging to him, such as pictures and music. Remembering that the other one was empty, Howell threw the hard drive he thought was empty into the trash. However, months later, when Bitcoin started to appreciate, he remembered that there were about 8,000 Bitcoins on one of those disks. When he checked the hard drives, Howell realized that he had thrown the Bitcoin loaded one in the trash.
Faced with the bitter truth, Howell is in negotiations with the administration of New Port, where he has lived for years. While Howell wants to dig up the municipal dump containing tons of waste, New Port management opposes Howell’s search for the hard drive in the dump, arguing that it will lead to an environmental disaster.
It’s also not easy to search for a hard drive in tons of garbage. Howell also found a financier to put $11 million into the business. If Howell convinces the municipality to find the hard drive and recover the Bitcoins inside, he and his venture capitalists will each get $56 million. The remaining money will be shared between New Port management and 150,000 New Port residents.
FORGOT THE PASSWORD AND…
The Bitcoin story, where another million dollars was lost, belongs to software developer Stephan Thomas. Tomas put the 7002 Bitcoins he bought in 2011 into the e-wallet he created in a USB stick. Tomas encrypted this e-wallet. However, if the password was entered incorrectly 10 times, the e-wallet would not open forever. When Bitcoin prices rose, Thomas tried to open this e-wallet but forgot his password.
Thomas says that he has made 8 attempts so far and he has only 2 attempts left. He can recover his bitcoins with laboratory processes, but Thomas states that the risk of not being able to recover their cryptocurrencies is too great in this case. Thomas adds that he is no longer sad that he lost his fortune worth more than $210 million, but that he is at peace with the situation.
In addition to these lost Bitcoins, Bitcoins that are inaccessible in the wallets of those who lost their lives also draw attention. Investor Mathew Mellon is noted for his investments in the blockchain Ripple and cryptocurrency XRP, with the XRP value that Mellon invested was estimated at around $1 billion. However, Mellon died unexpectedly in 2019. The private keys required to access Mellon’s XRPs are presumed to be held in various US banks. However, to date, it has not been revealed which bank Mellon has the key or crypto wallet.
Another lost fortune is Gerald Cotten, CEO of QuadrigaCX.com. The whereabouts of Cotten’s $150 million cryptocurrency fortune, who died suspiciously in 2018, is still unknown. Only Cotten knew the passwords of the wallets containing the coins.
Sources: Yahoo Finance, The New York Times, Medium
