I think people look at this story wrong.  It's not really a story of wealth lost in a landfill, it's more of a story of regretting not (re-)investing in Bitcoin in 2013 (and from what I'm told, later doubling down that error with investments in scammy clones).

Consider. Today 8000 BTC would trade for about 923 million dollars.  But where, or more precisely, WHEN did all those gains happen?  Not prior to 2013.    2013 opened with bitcoin at about $13 and it traded for about $120 most of the year.

So 99.9% of the gains happened *after* the claimed loss.  So they aren't what was lost.

If someone had *stolen* the coins back then they'd only be liable for the value of the coins then-- it would be on the victim to have acquired a replacement.

But a person's regret at not having acquired more bitcoin earlier is a story as common as people are.

I think people look at this story wrong.  It's not really a story of wealth lost in a landfill, it's more of a story of regretting not investing in Bitcoin in 2013 (and from what I'm told, later doubling down that error with investments in scammy clones).

Consider. Today 8000 BTC would trade for about 923 million dollars.  But where, or more precisely, WHEN did all those gains happen?  Not prior to 2013.   2013 opened with bitcoin at about $13 and it traded for about $120 most of the year.

So 99.9% of the gains happened *after* the claimed loss.  So they aren't what was lost.

If someone had *stolen* the coins back then they'd only be liable for the value of the coins then-- it would be on the victim to have acquired a replacement.

But a person's regret at not having acquired more bitcoin earlier is a story as common as people are.