James Howells, an IT engineer from Newport, Wales, has faced a major legal setback in his decade-long quest to recover a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoin, now worth over $750 million.
A UK court dismissed his bid to excavate the Newport landfill where the hard drive was discarded in 2013, citing environmental risks.
The Case and the Ruling
Judge Keyser KC ruled that Howells’ claim had “no realistic prospect” of succeeding at trial. The Newport City Council, which owns the landfill, argued that the excavation would breach environmental permits and pose significant ecological risks. The court upheld the council’s stance, effectively ending Howells’ excavation efforts.
Howells’ Struggle
Howells mined the Bitcoin in 2009, back when it was nearly worthless, and accidentally discarded the hard drive during an office cleanup in 2013.
Despite offering 10% of the potential recovery and proposing a £10 million excavation plan funded by investors, the council consistently denied his requests.
In his latest legal move, Howells sought either access to the landfill or $608 million in damages. The council countered that the hard drive became its property upon entering the landfill, a point the court upheld.
Environmental Concerns
The council cited the risk of environmental damage as a key reason for denying the excavation. Howells had previously accused the council of environmental violations, claiming the landfill was already leeching toxins like arsenic. However, the court sided with the council’s assessment of the environmental impact.
Future Plans
Despite the court’s ruling, Howells remains determined. He plans to explore tokenizing the inaccessible Bitcoin into a new cryptocurrency, viewing the landfill as a “super-duper storage vault.”
While the legal battle over the landfill appears to be over, Howells is not giving up on finding an alternative way to recover his fortune.
Stay tuned for more updates on this ongoing saga in the world of cryptocurrency.
