Security guards at a landfill in England are now forced to patrol the area around the clock and use CCTV cameras. All because of cryptocurrency hunters who have set themselves the goal of finding a hard drive with 7,500 bitcoins.
The city of Newport has suddenly become a haven for digital treasure hunters. Every day, the local landfill is being targeted by new profit seekers who are sifting through the garbage in an attempt to locate a discarded hard drive with bitcoins. Due to this, local authorities were compelled to introduce 24-hour video surveillance and erect a fence around the landfill.
The hard drive was discarded eleven years ago. It was previously owned by crypto investor James Howells, but in 2013, he mistakenly threw away a storage device containing 7,500 bitcoins. This valuable component went straight from the trash can to a landfill.
James has been trying to obtain permission to excavate the landfill for several years, but local authorities have rejected his initiative. The realization that a hard drive is still lying among the rubbish of Newport is attracting more and more cryptocurrency hunters. Meanwhile, a crypto investor offers a cash reward for the found drive, but the authorities are still opposed to it.