A High Court ruling has blocked a Welsh man's attempt to search a landfill for a hard drive holding $775M in Bitcoin. Now, he wants to buy the site himself.
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| A lost hard drive with 8,000 Bitcoin could be buried in a Newport landfill. Its owner wants to dig, but the council and courts refuse his requests. Image: ChicHue |
Cardiff, Wales — February 11, 2025:
A Welsh man is attempting to purchase a landfill in Newport to recover a hard drive containing thousands of Bitcoin, believed to be worth over $775 million, reads an RT post.
Computer engineer James Howells has spent more than a decade trying to retrieve the device, which was mistakenly discarded in 2013. That year, Bitcoin’s value surged from just over $100,000 in January to more than $9 million by December, prompting his efforts to recover the lost cryptocurrency.
Howells recently lost a High Court case against Newport City Council, which has repeatedly refused his requests to excavate the landfill. The council has cited environmental risks and legal concerns, arguing that the hard drive became its property upon entering the site. The court upheld this position, with the judge ruling that there was “no realistic prospect” of Howells winning at trial.
With the landfill set to be capped in the 2025-26 financial year and partially converted into a solar farm, Howells has now expressed interest in buying the site outright. He has reportedly discussed the idea with potential investors and has also lodged an appeal with the Royal Court of Appeal in London.
The landfill contains over 1.4 million tonnes of waste, but Howells has previously stated he believes the hard drive may still be functional due to its anti-corrosive properties.
The legal battle continues as Howells fights to reclaim what he believes is a lost fortune.