Chris lost access to his bitcoins 12 years ago, when they were worth about 4,000 pounds. Over the years, he watched the value rise and fall several times, follow market fluctuations and rise again. Finally, he managed to recover his wallet, which had remained untouched throughout this entire period, becoming a millionaire overnight.
Chris's case is not unique. The article also mentions James Howells, a Welshman who in 2013 threw away one of his old hard drives without realizing it contained about 7,500 bitcoins. The digital coins are now buried in a landfill in the country.
Today, Howells's bitcoins would be worth about 510 million euros, which explains why the man continues to try to recover the hard drive, having even made several requests to local authorities to access the landfill where he believes the equipment is still located.
