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The case of the missing Bitcoin — a story of lost fortunes

Hits in the headlines #84

Cryptocurrency has been in and out of the news cycle over the last few years. Whether you know anything about it or not, you will at least have heard lots of stories surrounding it. Many of these stories are people making huge sums of money, just by buying some of these cryptocurrencies many years ago which have now greatly increased in value. But, there are also plenty of negative stories where people lose everything – every penny that they ever invested. One story from the UK is rather unbelievable, and actually takes place over the span of more than a decade! A man in the UK claims his partner threw away a drive that contained about 8000 Bitcoin. In today’s value, that is more than €700 000 000! The rest of the story is a long battle with the local government to retrieve this drive, and it appears that the story has come to an end for now. Find out more in link 1.

The next story is one that sounds like the beginning of a Black Mirror episode, or some kind of sci-fi horror story. A man decided to take a “robotaxi” or self-driving car to the airport, but ended up trapped inside the car, spinning in circles. While this case didn’t end in any harm, it’s a concerning sign for the safety of some of these vehicles. For many of us, “robotaxis” are a thing from science-fiction, but as the technology becomes more widely available, it might be the standard in the not-so-distant future. Find out more about this story in link 2.

Finally, we have a video on a somewhat controversial topic: “Digital Parenting”. The idea of tracking locations through phones is not new these days, and parental controls have existed for TVs, computers, and consoles for a long time now. However, the amount of data and tracking that is available to some parents is completely changing the lives of kids today. While there are certainly some positives to being able to track locations and see what your family are up to, does it also come with negatives? Absolutely. Think back to your childhood. If you’re reading this, it is very likely that these apps weren’t around then. But, if they were available, do you think the adults of your day would’ve used them? How would that have changed what you did as a kid? Find out more in the 3rd link, for this week’s video.


Why not use this as a chance to learn some new language?

Try to note some new language that you see or hear in the articles or video and bring it to the class.

  1. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj0r0dvgpy0o 

  2. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/06/man-trapped-waymo-los-angeles  

  3. https://www.bbc.co.uk/videos/cdd7n4lv9l7o 

Remember, I always encourage you to send in your interesting articles, videos, or podcasts. You can message me directly, or email me here.

Have a great week.

See you in class!