Judge dismisses man’s bid to recover hard drive with £600million worth of bitcoin on it from landfill

9 January 2025, 14:55 | Updated: 9 January 2025, 17:56

A judge has dismissed a man's desperate attempt to sue a council in order to retrieve a Bitcoin hard drive from a rubbish tip - which he claims is now worth around £600 million.

James Howells argued his ex-partner accidentally threw away the hard drive containing a Bitcoin wallet in 2013, and he sought permission to access the landfill to recover the extremely valuable cryptocurrency.

Mr Howells had even offered a share of the recovered Bitcoin with Newport City Council if the hard drive was successfully found.

However, the council requested a High Court judge strike out Mr. Howells' legal action, which aimed either to access the site or instead to receive £495 million in compensation.

Judge Keyser KC ruled there were no "reasonable grounds" for the claim and that there was "no realistic prospect" of success if the case went to trial.

During the December hearing, the court was informed Mr. Howells had been an early adopter of Bitcoin and had successfully mined the cryptocurrency.

As the value of his missing digital wallet increased, Mr. Howells assembled a team of experts to try to locate, recover, and access the hard drive.

He had repeatedly requested permission from the council to access the landfill and had even offered a share of the recovered Bitcoin if the hard drive was successfully found.

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Mr. Howells mined the Bitcoin back in 2009 for a negligible cost and says he completely forgot about it when he discarded the hard drive.

With Bitcoin's value rising more than 80% in 2024, Mr. Howells now estimates his 8,000 bitcoins are worth over £600 million.

However, James Goudie KC, representing the council, argued that the hard drive became the council's property as soon as it entered the landfill site under existing laws.

He also pointed out that the council’s environmental permits would prohibit any excavation to search for the hard drive.

Mr. Goudie argued that the offer to donate 10% of the Bitcoin to the local community was encouraging the council to "play fast and loose," essentially "signing up for a share of the action."

In his written judgment, the judge stated: "I also find that the claim has no realistic prospect of success if it went to trial and that there is no other compelling reason to proceed with the case."

The landfill contains over 1.4 million tonnes of waste, but Mr. Howells claimed he had pinpointed the location of the hard drive to an area with around 100,000 tonnes of waste.

Mr. Howells has speculated that the Bitcoin on his hard drive could be worth £1 billion by next year.

Speaking to BBC Wales outside the court in Cardiff last December, Mr. Howells expressed confidence in his case and said he was prepared to take it all the way to the Supreme Court.