James Howells, a 39-year-old IT engineer, has filed a lawsuit against the Newport Council, seeking to retrieve a hard drive he accidentally discarded in 2013, which contained 8,000 Bitcoin (BTC)—now worth around $500 million. The legal action demands that the council allow a search of the landfill where the hard drive is believed to be buried.
Howells Wants the Council to Search for the Bitcoin-Laden Hard Drive
Howells’ legal move aims to compel the council to permit excavation of the landfill where he believes the drive is located. The lawsuit, which could be worth £495 million ($636 million), reflects the highest value of the Bitcoin at the beginning of the year. Howells insists that the case is a strategy to convince the council to allow the search, which he has offered to fund entirely himself.
He has assembled a team of experts and is prepared to spend £10 million on the excavation. In return, he has offered the council 10% of the value of the recovered Bitcoin, which could amount to tens of millions of pounds.
How It Happened
In August 2013, Howells mistakenly threw away the hard drive containing the Bitcoin, which he had mined back in 2009 when the cryptocurrency was in its early stages. During a routine clean-up, he mixed up two identical hard drives, unknowingly putting the one containing the BTC into a garbage bag, which was later taken to a recycling center by his then-partner.
At the time, the Bitcoin was worth less than £1 million, but within three months, its value skyrocketed to £9 million. Today, that value has grown to half a billion pounds, and Howells believes it could increase even further in the future.
The Legal Battle and Environmental Concerns
Despite numerous requests, Newport Council has consistently denied Howells permission to search the landfill, citing environmental concerns. Their legal team claims that the hard drive now legally belongs to them since it was discarded on their property. Howells’ legal counsel disputes this, arguing that he never intended to abandon ownership of the drive or the intellectual property contained within it.
Howells’ team is confident that the hard drive is in a specific area of the Docksway landfill and estimates an 80% chance of recovering the data. The proposed dig, which would take three years and cost millions, wouldn’t come at any expense to the council. Howells’ team even argues that the excavation could benefit the council by addressing environmental issues at the site.
Newport Council Rejects the Proposal
Despite these assurances, the council maintains its stance, describing Howells’ claims as “weak.” A council spokesperson stated, “Excavating the landfill under our environmental permit is not possible and would have severe negative effects on the environment.” They added that Howells’ mention of environmental violations is a distraction from his “fundamentally weak” legal claim.
Undeterred, Howells has vowed to take the case to appeal courts or even the Supreme Court if necessary. “I didn’t want to go to court, but this is my last chance,” he said, expressing his determination to recover the lost Bitcoin and revitalize Newport.
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