Man who threw away $750M in Bitcoin wants to buy the dump where it's buried

[ai_ia]

He should post the ultimate "prove you are a psychic" challenge. People claiming to be "psychic" or such power, can get 100 million$ if they are right at finding the drive.

[nh23423fefe]

Why not just pray to God?

[dbspin]

My heart genuinely goes out to him. Not merely for losing the bitcoin. The idea of trying to negotiate a search (or purchase) of the dump with the risk avoidant jobsworth council bureaucrats of a mid sized British town is spine chilling.

[debeloo]

Exactly. Even if he buys it, there's no guarantee he'll permission to dig it up.

[throwaway314155]

How did he lose the damn keys? It's kinda hard to empathize with that when everyone knows what the consequences are to (i assume) accidentally throwing a fucking single copy of your keys into the trash.

[ktallett]

I completely understand their desire to not let it be dug up. Where does that stop? People accidentally throw things out all the time, it's sadly a part of life.

[linsomniac]

I really feel for this guy, because I "lost" 14,000 bitcoins, but in my case I know exactly where they went. And I still think about it them all.the.time. In my case, I wanted to hold onto them "like a lottery ticket", my (now ex) wife had this "sell when the 200 day moving average does X, and then we can buy back when it goes back down under Y" (but never did the buy back).

[gnabgib]

Discussion (37 points, 1 day ago, 54 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42999044

[matt_s]

I wonder if there is a system to dumps where they can kinda triangulate an area and general depth to a calendar of when things were put there?

Talk about a needle in a haystack.

[yostrovs]

Garbage trucks these days often have cameras that film when a dumpster is picked up and dumped into the truck. Perhaps the same is done during unloading.

[giantg2]

Yes, they generally can.

[Lockal]

This figure's previous successes:

- seeked investors who would give him real money for a share of mythical bitcoins (if they could be found)

- unsuccessfully tried to sue a council £500m in compensation for mythical bitcoins

Current challenges:

- continues to try to get millions of dollars from "investment partners" for allegedly unearthing mythical bitcoins

[ktallett]

Whilst I feel a little for his case and understand he regrets being careless with the key, his life isn't determined by the cash. Is this the best use for your finite time on earth?

[theragra]

He is the est example of a person consumed by an idea. It is pretty sad. He cannot let it go.

[nullsmack]

This is kinda silly. I bet if this guy ever ends up finding his hard drive, it's probably not going to be readable anymore.

[jarsin]

Every time I hear about this guy I picture him finding his lost treasure right as BTC goes back under $1.

[valbaca]

haha just like the Twilight Episode of the guy who finally gets quiet to read...after a nuclear war that also breaks his reading glasses.

[silisili]

What are the odds that a laptop, having spent 12 years in the elements and probably under huge amounts of slimy weight, would even operate or have a functional drive if by some miracle he was able to find it? I honestly don't know, but it just feels like the entire thing would be fried.

[genter]

There's companies that open them up in a clean room and magnetically image the disk. Not cheap, but I think worth it in this case.