this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2024
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Summary

James Howells lost 8,000 Bitcoins worth over £500 million when he accidentally threw away a hard drive containing his private key.

He has been trying to retrieve the hard drive from a Newport landfill for over a decade, but the council has refused to allow him access.

Howells is now suing the council for £495 million in damages.

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[–] Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works 27 points 2 days ago (2 children)

With headlines like this, it's always important to keep in mind that bitcoin is such a thinly traded (and largely artificial) market that actually trying to sell 8,000 Btc for real dollars/pounds would instantly and catastrophically crash the price.

[–] tired_n_bored@lemmy.world 18 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I agree with everything you said but 8000 bitcoin won't move the price much. We've seen management firms buying hundreds of millions worth of bitcoins

[–] Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works 12 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Different dynamics. Buys require sellers, of which there are a fair amount (though few enough still that large purchases absolutely do shift the price significantly; we've seen multiple instances of Tether bringing the price up by 20% or more for the cost of billion newly minted USDT). Sells require buyers, which are in very short supply.

[–] tired_n_bored@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

Got it thank you for the explanation

[–] GhiLA@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 days ago

Yes and no.

The ETF changed the dynamics of BTC a little.

Now there's an introductory price for Bitcoin once it hit the stock market, and there's interest and reason for holders to not want it to go lower than that price. $55k thereabouts is when the ETF began.

Also, people are using Bitcoin like an index fund. They get paid, they invest. Every paycheck.

It's an odd thing to watch. I don't see another huge crash, but I don't see miracles, either. BTC has no use as a fast method of payment. Store-of-value is all it has.