Hafina Eddy-Evans
The British woman admits to having gotten rid of her fortune, but unintentionally. “He asked me to take a bag of rubbish to the bin. I had no idea what was in there.”
His ex-girlfriend spoke for the first time James Howellsa 39-year-old computer engineer from Newport, Wales, who saw his hard drive containing Bitcoin being sent to the trash by his own confidant.
Hafina Eddy-Evans recently explained his role in the disappearance of the disc Howells was looking for more than a decade ago.
In 2009, Howells mined around 8,000 bitcoins, which at the time were worth just £6 (€7.20 at the current conversion rate). Its value has now skyrocketed, making the lost record potentially worth £618 million (741 million euros), according to .
Howells has been lobbying Newport Council for years to grant him permission to dig the Docksway landfill site where he believes the hard drive was discarded.
Previously, Hafina had refuted the claim that she threw the disc away on purpose. “He asked me to take a bag of trash to the dumpster. I had no idea what was insidebut I did it as a favor”, he explained to MailOnline, reinforcing that he had already tried to find the disc, but without success.
Hafina, who shares two children with Howells, admitted she hopes unity can be found to end the stalking. “I just wanted him to find her. I’m tired of hearing about it,” she said.
Newport City Council has consistently denied Howells’ requests to excavate the landfill. It invokes environmental concerns and restrictions arising from its license. The council stated that the excavation could have a “enormous environmental impact.”
Despite everything, Howells offered to share even 10% of the value of Bitcoins with the municipality for local projects — a reduction from its previous offer of 25%.
Frustrated, the unlucky man recently filed a lawsuit demanding almost £500 million (600 million euros) in compensationaccusing the council of withholding his property. However, the recent rise in the value of Bitcoin, which reached a record high of £78,796 per coin, has intensified the situation.
