James Howells, an IT engineer from Newport, Wales, has been engaged in a decade-long legal battle to recover a fortune in Bitcoin that he accidentally discarded in 2013. Now, Howells is suing Newport City Council for £495 million ($647 million) in damages after the council repeatedly blocked his requests to excavate a local landfill, where he believes his lost Bitcoin resides.
The Discarded Hard Drive
Howells’ woes began in 2013 when, during a routine household clearout, he mistakenly threw out a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoin. At the time, the value of the cryptocurrency was around £1 million ($1.3 million), but today it’s worth nearly £500 million ($647 million), making his loss one of the largest known in Bitcoin history.
Since then, Howells has made multiple attempts to retrieve the hard drive from the Newport landfill, where he believes it ended up. However, his efforts have been repeatedly stymied by Newport City Council, which has refused to grant him permission to search the site.
Council Denies Excavation Over Environmental Concerns
Newport City Council has consistently cited environmental concerns as the main reason for denying Howells’ requests to excavate the landfill. The site in question has been flagged for environmental permit breaches, including elevated levels of hazardous materials such as asbestos, arsenic, and methane. The council argues that disturbing the landfill could result in significant environmental harm to the surrounding area.
Despite these concerns, Howells has proposed multiple plans to recover the hard drive without causing harm. In 2022, he pitched a $11 million plan to locate the lost Bitcoin, involving the use of AI-powered robots and specialized equipment to sift through the roughly 110,000 tonnes of garbage at the landfill. His proposal even included offering Newport City Council 10% of the recovered Bitcoin’s value if the hard drive is successfully located, an amount that would total around £50 million ($64 million).
Still, the council has remained firm in its stance, questioning both the feasibility and the legality of Howells’ plan. The council’s concerns about the environmental impact, combined with uncertainty about whether the hard drive could still be in a recoverable condition after over a decade buried under landfill waste, have kept the project on hold.
Legal Battle Escalates
Frustrated by the ongoing stalemate, Howells has now taken his fight to court. He has assembled a team of legal experts to file a claim against Newport City Council, seeking £495 million in damages. The case is set to be heard in December, and it will be one of the most high-profile legal battles involving lost cryptocurrency.
Howells argues that the council’s refusal to allow him to recover his property has caused him irreparable financial harm. He also contends that his proposals to excavate the landfill have been environmentally sound and posed no risk to public health. For their part, the council maintains that its decision to block the excavation is based on legitimate environmental and legal concerns.
The Value of Bitcoin
At the time of Howells’ mishap in 2013, Bitcoin was still a relatively obscure digital asset, with each coin worth just a few hundred dollars. By comparison, today’s value of one Bitcoin hovers around $63,342, making Howells’ lost fortune a significant sum.
Bitcoin’s meteoric rise in value over the past decade has transformed it from a niche investment into a mainstream asset, attracting the attention of large financial institutions and retail investors alike. However, the decentralized nature of Bitcoin means that once private keys are lost, there is no way to recover them—short of finding the original storage device, as Howells is attempting to do.
Attempts to Recover the Hard Drive
Howells has been persistent in his attempts to recover the lost Bitcoin. Over the years, he has tried everything from personal appeals to the council to enlisting the help of tech experts and even private investors. His $11 million plan, presented in 2022, involved using high-tech solutions such as AI, robots, and even advanced scanning technologies to pinpoint the location of the hard drive amidst the tons of landfill waste.
The plan was ambitious and, crucially, offered to be carried out at no cost to the council. However, Newport City Council continued to express doubts about the legality of the operation, as well as concerns over the potential environmental impact of disturbing the landfill.
Bitcoin and the Risk of Loss
Howells’ situation serves as a stark reminder of the importance of securely managing cryptocurrency assets. Unlike traditional bank accounts, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies rely on private keys for access. If these keys are lost or destroyed, the funds become inaccessible forever.
Experts recommend using hardware wallets for storing Bitcoin, keeping private keys offline, and backing up recovery phrases in multiple secure locations to avoid the risk of loss.
The Road Ahead
As Howells’ legal battle with Newport City Council heads to court in December, the outcome could have far-reaching implications, not only for him but also for the growing number of cryptocurrency holders around the world. Should the court rule in his favor, it could set a precedent for how lost digital assets are treated in legal disputes and whether government bodies have the authority to block recovery efforts.
Until then, Howells remains locked in a “war of attrition” with the council, determined to recover his lost fortune, no matter how long it takes.
