A UK court ends the hunt for $750 million worth of bitcoins lost in a council dump

James Howells, an IT engineer from Newport, Wales, has lost a lengthy legal battle to recover a hard drive containing 8,000 bitcoins worth more than $750 million.

Newport City Council has consistently banned access to the landfill where the hard drive was accidentally disposed of in 2013, citing environmental concerns.

In the latest setback, Judge Keyser QC dismissed Howells’ case, ruling there was “no realistic prospect” of success at trial. BBC report.

Excavated by Howells Bitcoin (BTC) in 2009, when it cost just a penny, saved it on a hard drive, which was then mistakenly thrown away.

despite of to draw With 10% of the wealth returned to the council and community, its proposals, including a £10m (US$12.3m) mine funded by investors, have been consistently rejected.

The council cited the threat of environmental damage, noting that the excavation would breach its permits and harm the local ecosystem.

In his latest legal claim, the British man sought to either go into landfill or pay $608 million in damages — a significant chunk of Bitcoin’s peak value.

Newport Council countered that the hard drive became its property when it went to landfill. They argued that the environmental impact of mining was unsustainable.

Judge Keyser agreed, adding that Howells’ claim had “no reasonable basis” to go to trial.

A commercial district judge in Wales concluded that the council’s ownership of the landfill and its environmental permit provided a “full answer” to the claim.

“This sentence has taken everything away from me and left me with nothing. It’s another blow to the UK’s system of injustice,” Howells said in the report.

However, he found solace in the court by not disputing ownership of the bitcoin itself, which he hopes to use in his future plans.

Howells did not immediately respond Encryption Request a comment.

A decade of lost wealth

The saga began in 2013 when Howells’ then-partner accidentally dropped a hard drive while cleaning out the office.

By 2024, the value of his lost Bitcoin had increased by 704,000 times due to the huge growth of the crypto, and the loss became more and more severe.

Over the years, Howells has accused the council of environmental violations, claiming it is leaching arsenic and other toxins into the environment.

Regardless of the court’s decision, Howells said Wales online that he did not give up completely. He plans to explore tokenizing the elusive Bitcoin into a new crypto.

“The landfill works like a super-duper storage facility,” he said, noting that it might be his last resort to save any valuables.

Howell said he now believes mining is “completely off the table” but is determined to find an alternative way to restore his fortunes.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair