A BRIT who accidentally threw away his computer containing digital currency Bitcoin says his stash would be worth at least £74million if found today.

James Howells, 32, from Wales, was an early convert to the technology long before Bitcoin, dubbed "digital gold," became all the rage.

3 James Howells was an early convert to the technology long before Bitcoin became all the rage Credit: Rex Features

Four years ago he threw out an old computer on whose hard drive were the ownership codes of his 7,500 Bitcoin stash, worth around $700,000 at the time.

Just 12 months ago one coin was worth $732, but it's now worth $11,000 (£8,584).

And James has estimated that his portfolio is now worth $107,919,144 - or £74million.

However he cannot access it, as the hard drive was dumped in a landfill in Newport, Wales, when he threw away his computer by accident.

A large-scale manhunt for the hard drive from locals bidding to claim it as their own is pointless, too, because bitcoin accounts are protected by a "private key".

3 The 32-year-old threw out an old computer which at the time had Bitcoin worth around $700,000, but could now be worth $1,000,000 Credit: Rex Features

The private key is a password known only by James, and should be die without telling it to someone else the money would forever go unclaimed.

He told the Telegraph: “After I had stopped mining, the laptop I had used was broken into parts and sold on eBay.

"However, I kept the hard drive in a drawer at home knowing it contained my Bitcoin private keys, so that if Bitcoin did become valuable one day I would still have the coins I had mined.

“In mid-2013 during a clear-out, the hard drive - then worth a few hundred thousand pounds - was mistakenly thrown out and put into a general waste bin at my local landfill site, after which it was buried on site.”

3 Docks Way landfill site, which belongs to Newport City Council, in South Wales, is where the computer is thought to have been dumped

Experts are convinced the sky is the limit for Bitcoin.

Wences Casares, a member of PayPal's board of directors, recently speculated it could even hit a million dollars per coin inside a decade.

James added: "In the future I easily see it being worth anywhere from $500m (£270m) to $1billion."

What is bitcoin? Your guide to the virtual currency Bitcoin is a virtual currency which was created in 2009 by an unknown person using the alias Satoshi Nakamoto.

Transactions are made without middlemen, so there are no transaction fees and no need to give your real name.

The value of Bitcoin, like all currencies, is determined by how much people are willing to exchange it for.

To process Bitcoin transactions, a procedure called ‘mining’ must take place, which involves a computer solving a difficult mathematical problem with a 64-digit solution.

For each problem solved, one block of Bitcoins is processed.

In addition, the miner is rewarded with new bitcoins.

To compensate for the growing power of computer chips, the difficulty of the puzzles is adjusted to ensure a steady stream of new bitcoins are produced each day.

Bitcoin keeps users’ transactions relatively private, letting them buy or sell anything without easily tracing it back to them.

That’s why it has become the currency of choice for people online buying drugs or other illicit activities.

That’s why it has become the currency of choice for people online buying drugs or other illicit activities. Victims of the WannaCry ransomware virus which crippled the NHS were asked to pay a ransom in bitcoin to unlock their infected computers.

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