This Has to Be the World’s Most Expensive “Basura” Moment.

We’ve all thrown away something we shouldn’t have—a charger, a USB, maybe an envelope with receipts. But for James Howell, a Welsh engineer, it was a little more serious.

In 2013, he tossed out an old hard drive that happened to contain 8,000 Bitcoin.

Back then, it wasn’t a huge deal. BTC was trading for peanuts. But today, that same stash is worth $920 million, or about ₱53 billion.

The Great (Failed) Dig of Newport

Since realizing the mistake, Howell has been pitching some pretty high-tech recovery plans—robot dogs, AI scanners, environmental consultants, and even private investors ready to fund a massive dig.

Sounds like a Hollywood heist movie. But in real life? The city of Newport wasn’t having it.

On the ninth of January 2025, a UK judge gave the final word: Nope. Not happening. The court ruled there’s no realistic chance of success, and that even if Howell did find the hard drive, the data’s likely to be toast.

Crypto Lessons from ‘Bitcoin sa Basura’

To every crypto-curious Filipino who keeps their seed phrase on a scratch paper or an old cellphone: please, don’t be like James.

This isn’t just a sad story. It’s a warning: Double check before you delete, label your drives, and for the love of all deities known to man, please don’t put ₱53 billion worth of anything next to banana peels.

James Howell may be ₱53 billion poorer, but at least he’s made it into every crypto thread, meme page, and YouTube explainer for life.

If you’ve ever felt bad about sending tokens to the wrong wallet—hey, it could be worse. You could’ve taken ₱53 billion… straight to the dump.

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