Man who THREW AWAY £600M Bitcoin wants to buy landfill site to find it! | Bitcoin News by CoinCorner

Transcript

MicroStrategy is no more as the company announced a rebrand, going all-in on their Bitcoin strategy.

Austin University in Texas has announced they will be launching a $5 million Bitcoin investment fund.

In Hong Kong, you can now use Bitcoin as proof of wealth when applying for their new visa scheme.

The British man who threw away £600 million worth of Bitcoin is now trying to buy the landfill site where he mistakenly discarded the hard drive.

Welcome back to Bitcoin News, brought to you by Coin Corner. I'm your host, Alex Glass, and now let's get straight into this week's top stories.

As always, looking first at Bitcoin's price, the first half of February has been pretty disappointing. After kicking off the year with a strong start with a 9% gain last month in January, the price is currently down around 6% this month, almost wiping out the entire quarter's gains.

That being said, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, as this appears to be just typical sideways movement, and the price has remained above a key support level of $91,000.

With that in mind, Bitcoin mining difficulty has also hit a new all-time high, and indicators could be suggesting that a new local bottom is in, getting ready for the next move up. Mining difficulty hit a new all-time high of 114.3 trillion, which is up around 5.6%.

As well as this, the hash ribbon metric is signaling a minor capitulation as mining costs exceed profitability, which in the past has been an indicator of a local bottom. If this pattern holds, Bitcoin's bottom could be around $91,000, and the last time this capitulation signal occurred was in October 2024, just days before Bitcoin surged 50%.

Now moving on, we have huge news this week coming from MicroStrategy as they've implemented a complete rebrand, changing their name to Strategy.

The software company, co-founded by Michael Saylor in 1989, over the course of the last five years has pioneered a Bitcoin-buying strategy, utilizing cheap debt from the capital markets to buy Bitcoin for the company's balance sheet.

Last year, they even decided to shift the entire company's focus from software to becoming a Bitcoin development company. But now they've truly gone all in, unveiling a new name, website, company colors, and logo ahead of its fourth-quarter earnings report last week.

As you might have guessed, the new branding implements the Bitcoin logo and the iconic Bitcoin orange. It really does seem quite fitting to ditch the "Micro" from "Strategy," as the company is the world's largest Bitcoin holder with over 471,000 coins, totaling 2.2% of the entire Bitcoin supply.

Thanks to this, they are now the 220th largest public company in the world by market cap, and personally, I can't wait to see where they go from here and what they have planned next.

More exciting news for institutional adoption is coming from the University of Austin, which is launching a $5 million Bitcoin fund, and they are planning on holding for at least five years.

This $5 million Bitcoin fund will be the first of its kind, forming part of the university's wider $200 million endowment fund.

The university's Chief Investment Officer said, "We don't want to be left behind when the potential materializes dramatically," whilst the Senior Vice President for Advancement said, "We think there is long-term value there, just in the same way we might think there is long-term value in stocks and real estate."

This move demonstrates an increasing appetite coming from institutions, as just three months ago, it was also revealed that Emory University accumulated over $15 million worth of Grayscale's spot Bitcoin ETF.

Now for an update on US government adoption—two more states have introduced Bitcoin strategic reserve bills.

In Maryland and Kentucky, bills have been introduced that will allow the states to hold Bitcoin as a reserve asset.

Looking first at Maryland, it would authorize the state treasurer to invest funds obtained through the enforcement of certain gambling violations into Bitcoin.

Whereas in Kentucky, it would authorize the state investment commission to allocate up to 10% of excess state reserves into digital assets.

That being said, Bitcoin is currently the only investable digital asset that meets the criteria, as they must hold a market cap of over $750 billion.

For reference, Ethereum is the next largest, and for it to qualify, it would need to more than double in value.

Moving across to Asia, Hong Kong has confirmed that they will now be accepting Bitcoin holdings to prove wealth for migrants looking to relocate to the city under their new visa program.

The new Capital Investment Entrant Scheme, which aims to attract asset owners to settle in the city and explore diverse investment opportunities, requires applicants to prove a $3.8 million net worth.

For this, they will be recognizing Bitcoin as proof, provided it is signed off by a Chartered Public Accountant, which is a great step forward in legitimizing the asset as a store of value and potential use as collateral.

Now in the UK, James Howells, the man who mistakenly threw out the hard drive with over £600 million worth of Bitcoin on it back in 2013, is now trying to buy the landfill site in an attempt to retrieve the funds.

After having his legal case thrown out last month, Newport City Council has now revealed it's planning to close and cap the site in the 2025–2026 financial year, which would almost certainly spell the end of any lingering hopes of recovering the coins.

However, Howells said, "If Newport City Council would be willing, I would be potentially interested in purchasing the landfill site and have discussed the option with investment partners."

"It's something that is very much on the table in my eyes, but who knows how realistic this might be."

Now for our final story, ending on a high note—a solo Bitcoin miner has hit the jackpot as they successfully mined a block, earning themselves around $300,000 worth of Bitcoin.

Solo mining isn't too common these days, as mining difficulty is just so high, so many choose to join mining pools where the profits are shared amongst the pool.

Whereas in solo mining, you only get paid if you're lucky enough to find a block.

Marshall Long shared on X that the miner may have even been using a Bitaxe machine, which can be bought for around £200 and has been successful in the past.

These low-cost machines act a bit like a lottery, as they're not very powerful, and your chance of mining a block is very low compared to industry-standard miners, which are far more powerful but also more expensive.

But unfortunately, that is all we have for you today.

So, as always, make sure to hit that subscribe button down below, and I'll see you next week with more Bitcoin news.