Man Who Accidentally Threw Away 7,500 Bitcoins on Hard Drive Has New Plan to Retrieve His BTC

The British man who accidentally threw away a computer with 7,500 bitcoins on its hard drive has come up with a new plan to retrieve his lost coins from the city landfill. “We estimate there are between 300,000 – 400,000 tons of waste to look through,” he said.

Man on Mission to Retrieve 7,500 Lost Bitcoins

James Howells, an IT engineer who accidentally threw away the hard drive of an old computer containing 7,500 bitcoins back in 2013, has not given up his quest to retrieve his coins. The 35-year-old from the city of Newport in the U.K. has shared with The Sun publication his 12-month plan to search the city landfill using x-ray scanning devices and AI technology.

Noting that “This would be a proper search – not just somebody going in with a bucket and spade,” the British man affirmed:

We have a system with multiple conveyor-belts, x-ray scanning devices and an AI scanning device that would be trained to recognise items that are a similar size and density to the hard drive.

“This would be a delicate search because we wouldn’t want to damage the hard drive in the process – you can’t just use a claw grabber,” he emphasized. “We’ve spoken to excavation experts and proper engineers to make sure it was all being done correctly as well as in a way that was safe for the environment.”

Howells added that over the past four or five months, he had been “talking to some of the best data recovery experts in the world to make sure we can get it off the hard drive.”

The search will be costly but Howell said that his plan is backed by a very rich hedge fund willing to cover the cost of the search and the equipment involved in exchange for the lion’s share of his fortune.

Howells believes that his hard drive is in a 200-meter squared area and could be 15 meters deep based on aerial photographs of the site. The IT engineer said:

We estimate there is between 300,000 – 400,000 tonnes of waste to look through.

Despite having a plan, Howells said that the Newport City Council would not let him search the landfill, even after he offered them £55 million ($76 million).

The Newport City Council explained that “The cost of digging up the landfill, storing and treating the waste could run into millions of pounds – without any guarantee of either finding it or it still being in working order.” Moreover, the council stated that “excavation is not possible under our licensing permit and excavation itself would have a huge environmental impact on the surrounding area.”

At the time of writing, 7,500 bitcoins are worth about $246 million according to data from Bitcoin.com Markets.

Do you think James Howells will recover his bitcoins? Let us know in the comments section below.

Bank of Jamaica to begin digital currency pilot in August

The Bank of Jamaica is getting ready to begin testing its planned central bank digital currency in collaboration with financial institutions in the country

Jamaica’s central bank will reportedly commence the initial roll-out of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) project in August.

According to a report by the Jamaica Observer on Wednesday, Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) Governor Richard Byles made this known during a Rotary Club event earlier in July.

Detailing plans to begin the pilot phase in August, Byles revealed that the BOJ was currently working on the technical aspects of the CBDC within a sandbox environment.

As previously reported by Cointelegraph, the BOJ chose Irish technology firm eCurrency Mint as the tech provider for its national digital currency project back in March. The Ireland-based cryptography security company was chosen from a list of solution providers that began applying for the project back in July 2020.

“As we work through the technical minting of the currency, we have to test it rigorously as a pilot that we’ll do in August,” Byles stated, adding:

“In September to December we’ll be recruiting more of the banks to come on board and then we’ll gradually expand the pilot out into a full-fledged launch of the CBDC.”

The BOJ governor also provided more details about the planned CBDC, stating that financial institutions will serve as intermediaries between the central bank and consumers — both retail and corporate.

With the CBDC designed to complement Jamaica’s banknotes, financial institutions will be able to issue the digital currency to individual and business account holders at a rate of one CBDC “coin” to one Jamaican dollar.

Byles also stated the BOJ’s plan to use the CBDC as a platform to provide financial services to the unbanked population. In this regard, the central bank governor called on the assistance of telecom firms in the country as well as their significant network of retail payment merchants.

Related: Jamaica's central bank taps Irish tech outfit for CBDC project

CBDC efforts have become a global endeavor, with central banks across the world establishing pilot studies or even launching sovereign digital currencies. A fellow Caribbean nation, the Bahamas, became one of the first countries to float a CBDC back in October 2020.

Elsewhere in the Caribbean, the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union recently launched its DCash digital currency in four or the currency union’s eight member states.

Jay-Z's Entertainment Firm Roc Nation Buys Sensorium's Metaverse Crypto Tokens

On Wednesday, the full-service entertainment company founded by influential hip-hop artist Jay-Z, Roc Nation, revealed the firm has purchased tokens from the Sensorium Corporation. The tokens Roc Nation bought are called senso (SENSO), the in-platform currency of Sensorium Galaxy, an entertainment-focused metaverse that fuses cryptocurrencies with virtual reality (VR).

Roc Nation Enters Sensorium’s Blended World of Crypto and VR

The Jay-Z-founded company Roc Nation is a firm that specializes in entertainment products and services such as talent acquisition, clothing, publishing, sports, and management. Now the company is getting involved with digital currencies as Roc Nation has revealed the purchase of senso (SENSO) tokens, the native currency for the metaverse tethered to Sensorium Galaxy.

Currently, Sensorium metaverse offers a demo. “The Sensorium starship tech demo provides an early look at the future lobby of Sensorium galaxy, from where social VR experience and events will begin,” the website explains. “This demo is not representative of the final look and feel.”

Sensorium Corporation, the creators of the metaverse, have blended blockchain technology with VR, and the project just released “Prism” one of the first worlds in the Sensorium metaverse. Prism visitors can join music festivals, concerts, and play mini-games with the chance to see artists like David Guetta and Armin van Buuren.

Sensorium Corporation plans to launch the next metaverse world called “Motion,” which has been said to include an underwater metaverse experience. “Let your moves become your language,” the Sensorium Motion world description says. “Connect with your senses through deep mindfulness and exciting dance performances to an underwater space. Dive into this mystic land to experience deep connections enabled by pure movements.”

Roc Nation’s senso token purchase announcement on Wednesday explains that the company is taking steps toward the future. Desiree Perez, the CEO of Roc Nation, detailed that the entertainment company wants its artists to be included in Sensorium Galaxy.

Roc Nation’s Perez further explained in a statement sent to Bitcoin.com News:

Sensorium Galaxy is well-positioned to take the entertainment industry to the next level. Their digital metaverse has a strong focus on quality, which is exactly what we want for our extensive artist base.

In Sensorium Galaxy ‘Artists Can Benefit From Global Content Distribution’

According to the project’s developers, the in-game metaverse currency called senso will be able to be leveraged for many transactions within the online world. Senso tokens can purchase concert tickets, upgrade features, issue custom non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and subscribe to premium content.

Sensorium Galaxy’s Prism is in closed beta and the public launch is scheduled for later this year. “[Prism] is located at the epicenter of SG, [Prism] is the world of music. A land where top performers gather to express themselves with absolute freedom,” the Sensorium Galaxy website details.

Brian Kean, the chief communications officer at Sensorium Corporation said during the announcement that Roc Nation’s senso purchase cements the idea that entertainment leaders realize the opportunities tethered to growing digital environments.

By owning the senso tokens, “Roc Nation is taking a step towards the future of entertainment,” Kean added. “[By] giving their artists a chance to potentially benefit from global content distribution through Sensorium Galaxy and safeguard ownership rights on all of their digital content.” Sensorium Galaxy also gives senso token holders like Roc Nation the ability to take part in multiple product-level decisions.

In recent times, Roc Nation’s founder Jay-Z has been talking about cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and NFTs. In June, Jay-Z discussed NFTs and blockchain technology with Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey and the rap star also changed his Twitter profile picture to Cryptopunk #6095 a few days prior.

What do you think about Roc Nation purchasing senso (SENSO) tokens? What do you think about digital environments and metaverses? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Janice McAfee Does Not Accept Her Husband's ‘Suicide’ Story — Widow Blasts Mainstream Media

The eccentric 75-year-old cybersecurity tycoon John McAfee’s death has spurred a lot of controversy and speculation since he passed. Now McAfee’s widow Janice McAfee is speaking out and she doesn’t believe the mainstream media’s reports of her husband’s suicide. Moreover, reports now say that McAfee was carrying a suicide note in his pocket when he was found dead in a Spanish jail cell.

John McAfee’s Wife Is Not Buying the Mainstream Media’s Tales, Unknown Source Allegedly Finds Note

On June 23, reports from Spain declared that John McAfee was found dead in a penitentiary located on the outskirts of Barcelona. Hours before his alleged death, the Spanish court ruled in favor of McAfee’s extradition to the U.S. where he faced charges for tax evasion. The publication El Pais said at the time of death that when prison guards found McAfee hanging in his cell, the prison’s medical services tried to revive him but were unable to.

Now 14 days later, reports are saying that McAfee may have had a suicide note on his person before he died. An unnamed source who could not reveal the text written in the alleged note said that investigators have still not completed the inquiry into McAfee’s death. When McAfee’s widow and his Spanish lawyer, Javier Villalba, heard about the note via the media, Villalba said authorities never told the family about McAfee’s ostensible suicide note.

Janice McAfee, Spain, June 25, 2021. Reuters image/Albert Gea

Meanwhile, as numerous conspiracy theories surround McAfee’s death, his widow Janice McAfee has published a letter she wrote on Twitter.

“I cannot begin to describe this pain I am feeling,” the antivirus tycoon’s wife tweeted. “That everyone who truly loved John is feeling. I have been struggling to write this tweet since the news of John’s death. I still cannot believe he is really gone. I miss you and I will love you forever John David.”

The letter below her Twitter statement slammed the media and the recent report of an alleged suicide note.

“The story of John’s ‘suicide’ was already prepared and presented to the public before I or his attorneys were even notified of his death. Words cannot describe how enraged I am at the fact that I had to hear the news of John’s death via a DM on Twitter,” Janice McAfee’s statement reads. “And now it’s being conveniently reported that there was a ‘suicide note’ found in his pocket, something that was not mentioned when I collected John’s belongings from the prison and another piece of information the media somehow got a hold of before myself and John’s attorneys,” she added.

Janice McAfee: ‘I Do Not Accept the ‘Suicide’ Story That Has Been Spread by the Malignant Cancer Called MSM’

John’s wife further said her husband “should have never spent a day in prison let alone nearly nine months.” Her letter continued by stressing that McAfee was a fighter and he had “so much more fight left in him.”

“I spoke with him twice the morning of the 23rd and in our last conversations, we spoke about the court’s decision to extradite him to the U.S. This decision did not come as a surprise to John, myself, or his lawyers,” McAfee’s widow continued. “We were prepared for the Spanish courts to grant the request for extradition, we had a plan of action in place to begin the appeal process and we discussed plans for the next stages of his legal fight. The extradition would have not happened immediately, it would have taken many months at least.”

A spokesperson from the Catalonia investigation team explained to the press that a forensic team was working on the case. The team will be performing toxicology tests on McAfee’s body but the official cause of death won’t be released for “weeks.” “He told me to be strong and not to worry, we would continue to fight all the necessary appeals,” McAfee’s widow further said. “His last words were I love you, I will call you in the evening but sadly that call never happened.”

Janice added that she was determined to find answers as to what really happened and for now, she doesn’t trust the mainstream media’s (MSM) story.

“The investigation into John’s death is still ongoing but I will share what information I can when I can,” Janice’s letter concludes. “Until then, I do not accept the ‘suicide’ story that has been spread by the malignant cancer that is the MSM. They and their unnamed sources are not to be trusted.”

What do you think about Janice McAfee’s claims and her critique against mainstream media and the alleged suicide story? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Joe Biden Directs US Intelligence to Investigate Ransomware Attack Against Florida IT Firm

Joe Biden wants to crackdown on ransomware according to statements he made on Friday, after hackers hijacked software from a Miami-based IT supplier called Kaseya. Hundreds of American businesses were affected by the breach as the attackers encrypted the files of some 200 clients. Biden said on Friday that he’s ordered an investigation into the exploited Florida-based IT infrastructure.

Biden Directs US Intelligence Agencies to Look Into the Kaseya Ransomware Attack

Following the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack, this past week an IT supplier called Kaseya was breached and the company’s software management tool called VSA was exploited. This attack affected a great number of Kaseya clients on Friday and suspicions of Russian gang involvement were sparked by investigators. Huntress, a security company, said that the company believes Russians were involved and blames a gang called Revil. The Revil ransomware gange is suspected of attacking the meatpacking company JBS last month as well.

American president Joe Biden remarked during a public appearance that he had directed U.S. intelligence agencies to investigate the matter and that the U.S. would do something if Russia was found to be behind it. Last month, Biden met with Russian president Vladimir Putin and told the leader that if ransomware attacks continued and were found to be from Russia there would be consequences. However, Biden said “we’re not certain” who was behind the attack on the Florida IT company and added:

The initial thinking was it was not the Russian government but we’re not sure yet.

Kaseya’s chief executive, Fred Voccola, told the press that the company had found the vulnerability and would “release that patch as quickly as possible to get our customers back up and running.” John Hammond, Huntress senior security researcher, said that this single piece of shared software allowed hundreds of companies to get exploited. “This is a colossal and devastating supply chain attack,” Hammond stressed on Friday.

Ransomware Has Pushed the Biden Administration Toward Investigating the Crypto Ecosystem

Biden’s statements follow U.S. Department of State’s undersecretary of state for political affairs Victoria Nuland’s comments about the Colonial Pipeline hack. Speaking of a discussion she had with Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele, Nuland remarked that after the Colonial Pipeline ransomware hack the U.S. State Department was taking a “tough look at bitcoin.”

The U.S.-based energy firm Colonial Pipeline saw its infrastructure fold in May after a ransomware gang exploited the system. Colonial Pipeline then paid the hackers 75 bitcoin (BTC) to get its infrastructure back online. However, in early June, U.S. law enforcement agencies said they recovered a majority of the funds (63.70 BTC) that were meant to go to the ransomware gang members.

Before the Kaseya hack, Biden’s administration had already published a “Memorandum on Establishing the Fight Against Corruption as a Core United States National Security Interest” in the first week of June. Biden’s directive to federal agencies put cryptocurrencies in the spotlight and the administration explains that the directive is meant to bolster national security.

A Kaseya hack response team member said that the breach on Friday sent out a myriad of ransom demands to all the businesses that were infected. Reuters reports that demands for “a few thousand dollars to $5 million or more” were sent to the clients affected by the Kaseya ransomware attack.

What do you think about Joe Biden giving a directive to U.S. intelligence agencies to investigate the Kaseya ransomware hack? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.