The Newport Council landfill site in Newport, Wales Getty Images / Photo by Matthew Horwood
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MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s been called a needle in a haystack—but James Howellssays this needle is worth about 755 million U.S. dollars. His Bitcoin fortune was accidentally dumped in a landfill in Wales back in 2013. Now, with the site set to close, Howell wants to buy it.
HOWELL: Given the value of the needle, if you're willing to search every single piece of hay, eventually you will find the needle.
A court blocked his efforts to dig, but Howells isn’t giving up. He’s assembling a team, using AI and proven landfill excavation methods.
HOWELL: My data recovery guys are some of the best in the world. All we need to do is get a tiny fraction of data—a pinpoint of data—from that entire disc.
Skeptics say Bitcoin has no real value. But Howells has a sharp response.
HOWELL: Now you’re poking the bear!
MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And this bear isn’t backing down!
REICHARD: It’s The World and Everything in It.
WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.
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