James Howells, an IT engineer from Newport, Wales, lost in his legal battle to recover the hard drive containing over $770 million worth of Bitcoin. The Bitcoin storage hard drive was mined in 2009, was accidentally discarded, and ended up in a landfill. The Newport City Council denied access to the landfill due to environmental license restrictions.
In the latest development, Judge Keyser, the district commercial court judge of Wales, dismissed Howells' lawsuit seeking access to the Newport landfill to recover his hard drive, according to a BBC report on January 9.
Keyser stated that this lawsuit has "no realistic prospect" of succeeding in a full trial. Since 2013, Howells has repeatedly requested permission from the council to access the site, while also offering to share a portion of the lost Bitcoin if the hard drive is found.
Howells' case is increasingly attracting attention in 2024 against the backdrop of Bitcoin's historic price surge to $100,000, enabling Bitcoin to generate annual returns of over 130%.
According to Howells, the dismissal of the lawsuit is a disappointing decision after 12 years of legal struggle. He told Cointelegraph that his lawsuit was not given proper consideration:
"My case has not been given proper consideration compared to the value of the asset in question and I feel that the English court system in general has let me down as I was not even given the opportunity to seek justice in a full trial."
However, Howells' ownership of the Bitcoin hard drive was not challenged during the legal hearing, which is an important acknowledgment, Howells stated, adding:
"This will pave the way for me to take appropriate steps to monetize my ownership of 8,000 digital Bitcoin assets in the future through potential crypto avenues."
Howells' legal team is still negotiating with the Newport City Council and the court regarding the final terms of the order.
The Story of the $770 Million Bitcoin Hard Drive
Howells, an early Bitcoin user, mined 8,000 BTC in 2009 when the cost was nearly zero. He accidentally discarded the hard drive in 2013 when the cryptocurrency was only trading at $13.
Cointelegraph data shows that Bitcoin has increased more than 704,000 times in the 12 years since 2013 when Howells began his legal battle. For over a decade, Howells has fought to reclaim his lost BTC. He has repeatedly negotiated with the Newport City Council for permission to search the landfill, but the council has consistently refused.
The council has also repeatedly declined to meet with Howells in person.
The council stated on October 11, 2024, that they had informed Howells "multiple times that excavation is not possible" under the council's environmental license due to "significant negative impacts on the surrounding environment."
Howells accused the council of violating environmental regulations, claiming to have "100 independently verified pieces of evidence" to support his allegations.
Howells stated that the council violated the burial license "by discharging arsenic, asbestos, ammonium nitrate, and methane gas into the local environment."
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