UK Judge Dismisses $770M Bitcoin Landfill Hard Drive Case: A Lesson for Crypto Investors A UK judge has dismissed the long-standing legal case of James Howells, who sought access to a landfill containing a hard drive with Bitcoin worth more than $770 million. This ends the 12-year saga for the IT engineer from Newport, Wales that captivated the cryptocurrency community all these years.
Back in 2009, Howells mined 8,000 Bitcoin, which was valued very low back then but is now trading around $94,600, with the stage set for a major BTC comeback after recent price drops.
However, Howells’ former partner mistakenly disposed of the hard drive that contained his private keys in 2013, which rendered the funds inaccessible. Since then, he has sought legal action to obtain permission to excavate the Newport landfill. He even offered a share of the recovered Bitcoin to the local council.