James Howells Loses Legal Fight To Retrieve $770M Bitcoin Hard Drive From Dump

James
Howell
lost
his
legal
battle
to
recover
a
hard
drive
with
$770
million
worth
of
Bitcoin
after
a
UK
judge
dismissed
the
case

The
hard
drive
was
accidentally
discarded
by
Howells’
former
partner
over
a
decade
ago
and
ended
up
in
a
Newport
landfill.
The Newport
City
Council
repeatedly
refused
to
give
him
access
to
the
landfill,
citing
environmental
permit
restrictions.

Since
2013,
Howells
has
sought
to
recover
his
hard
disk
and
sued
the
local
council
to
enter
the
site
or
get
compensation. But
Judge
Keyser
KC
has
now
dismissed
the
case.

He
said
there
were
no
“reasonable
grounds”
for
filing
the
claim
and
“no
realistic
prospect”
of
succeeding
at
a
full
trial.

Newport
Council
succeeds
in
having
claim
dismissed
involving
attempt
by
claimant
to
recover
hard
drive
containing
key
to
Bitcoin
(allegedly
worth
over
£600m)
accidentally
sent
to
landfill
in
2013

https://t.co/7Up3LCgbAI

—
James
Lee
(@jamessflee)

January
9,
2025

The
crypto
miner
had
also
offered
a
share
of
the
Bitcoin
if
the
hard
disk
was
found.

The
Story
Of
The
World’s
Most
Valuable
Hard
Disk

The
saga
of
the
$770
million
Bitcoin
hard
drive
started
in
2009,
when
James
Howells
says
he
successfully
mined
8,000
BTC.
Like
many
other
early
adopters
of
the
cryptocurrency,
Howells
had
no
idea
that

Bitcoin’s
price
would
reach
extraordinary
heights.

In
2013,
Howells’
partner
accidentally
threw
away
the
hard
disk.
At
that
time,
BTC
was
trading
at
$13.
Since
then,
it’s
skyrocketed
and
now
stands
at
$94,507.

On
October
11,
the
council
said
that
it
had
informed
Howells
“multiple
times
that
excavation
is
not
possible.”
The
council
referred
to
the
“huge
negative
environmental
impact
on
the
surrounding
area.”

Following
the
council’s
rejection,
Howells
accused
it
of
breaching
environmental
regulations.
He
claimed
to
possess
over
“100
independently
verified
pieces
of
evidence”
that
would
support
his
allegations.

Howells
claimed
the
council
had
been
violating
environmental
policies
“by
leeching
arsenic,
asbestos,
ammonium
nitrate,
and
methane
gases
into
the
local
environment.”

The
council
also
claimed
that
the
hard
drive
became
its
property
once
it
reached
the
landfill.
James
Goudie
KC,
for
the
council,
said
that
the
miner’s
offer
to
donate
10%
of
Bitcoin
to
the
local
community
was
tempting
the
council
to
“play
fast
and
loose”
by
“signing
up
for
a
share
of
the
action.”

Related
Articles