
A British court has officially ended James Howells’ decade-long fight to recover a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoins, now valued at $750 million. The ruling by Judge Keyser KC denied Howells’ request to excavate a Newport landfill, closing the door on one of the most well-known cryptocurrency recovery attempts.
Howells, an IT engineer from Newport, Wales, accidentally discarded the hard drive in 2013 when Bitcoin held little value. As the cryptocurrency’s worth skyrocketed, he made numerous appeals to the Newport City Council for permission to search the landfill. Howells even pledged to cover the full excavation cost and share 25% of the recovered Bitcoin with the city and local community.
However, the Newport City Council continuously rejected Howells’ proposals, citing environmental risks and logistical challenges tied to digging through 1.4 million tons of waste. Howells claimed to have narrowed the search to a 100,000-ton area, but officials remained firm in their refusal.
James Howells threw away $750 million of bitcoin accidentally a decade ago and has been trying to recover the hard drive from a landfill ever since. Today, a judge has rejected his latest attempt to search through 110,000 tons of garbage for his digital gold. pic.twitter.com/douIDzDdQO
— Documenting ₿itcoin 📄 (@DocumentingBTC) January 11, 2025
In his ruling, Judge Keyser stated that Howells had “no reasonable grounds” to proceed with the lawsuit. The judge ruled that the council legally owns the landfill contents, including the hard drive, and that the claim had no realistic prospect of success.
So you thought you had a bad day? It could always be worse. For instance:
HISTORY: 🟠 James Howells threw away $750 million worth of #bitcoin accidentally a decade ago.
He has been trying to recover the hard drive from a landfill ever since.
A judge has recently rejected his… pic.twitter.com/jUBh7gN9iN
— Alan Knitowski ∞/21M (@alanknit) January 12, 2025
Howells expressed frustration and disappointment over the ruling, describing it as a “kick in the teeth.” He criticized the court for dismissing the case before allowing a full trial where he could present his recovery plan. “I have tried everything humanly possible to engage with the council, but nobody in power would even have a real conversation with me,” he said.
Over the years, Howells assembled a team of data recovery specialists and environmental experts to help locate the drive. Despite his extensive planning and financial backing, the environmental risks associated with the landfill ultimately prevented any excavation effort.