James Howells, a Welsh IT engineer, has officially lost his legal battle to recover a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoins — now valued at nearly $750 million. A judge ruled against Howells, rejecting his lawsuit against Newport City Council and ending his decade-long quest to search a local landfill for his lost fortune.
Howells accidentally threw away the hard drive in 2013 when Bitcoin was virtually worthless. As Bitcoin’s value surged, Howells repeatedly sought permission to excavate the Newport landfill, offering to fully finance the operation and share 25% of any recovered funds with the council and community. However, Newport officials consistently denied his requests, citing serious environmental and safety risks associated with digging through 1.4 million tons of waste.
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
Judge Keyser KC dismissed the case, ruling that Howells had no “reasonable grounds” to bring the claim and no realistic chance of success. The court upheld the council’s argument that it owns the landfill contents, leaving Howells without legal rights to retrieve the hard drive.
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
In response to the ruling, Howells expressed deep frustration, calling the decision a “kick in the teeth.” He argued that he was never given the opportunity to present his full recovery plan in court and criticized local authorities for refusing to engage in meaningful discussions. “I’ve tried every possible way to work with the council, but they wouldn’t even listen,” he said.
Howells had assembled a team of experts, including data recovery specialists and environmental consultants, ready to assist in the complex search. Despite his extensive planning and financial backing, environmental regulations and ownership disputes proved too difficult to overcome.
This ruling ends one of the most well-known cryptocurrency recovery efforts in history. Howells’ story stands as a cautionary tale about the permanent risks of managing digital assets and the legal barriers that can prevent individuals from reclaiming lost property.
For Howells, the dream of recovering his multimillion-dollar Bitcoin fortune seems buried for good.
