The hard drive containing about 8,000 Bitcoins belonging to engineer James Howells (UK) was accidentally discarded while cleaning and is now worth over $700 million.
For more than a decade, James Howells (39), living in Newport (UK), has been trying to retrieve the hard drive containing the Bitcoin assets he believes are in the city's landfill.
The hard drive is believed to contain about 8,000 Bitcoins - worth approximately £4 million ($5 million) at the time it was discarded, but has now increased in value to over £569 million (over $719 million) due to the recent price surge in this currency, according to the BBC.
Howells bought Bitcoin from the early days of this cryptocurrency. His private key - a type of digital key used to access the currency - is stored on the engineer's computer hard drive. He removed this hard drive when upgrading his computer and put it in a desk drawer.
The hard drive remained in a drawer until 2013 when it was accidentally thrown away by his wife during a cleaning session.
Howells has repeatedly requested the Newport city council grant him access to the Docksway landfill to search for the lost hard drive. However, the council has refused due to environmental concerns, even though Howells proposed to donate 25% of the Bitcoin's value to the city (now reduced to 10%).
In October, Howells announced that he is suing the Newport city council for damages of £495,314,800 (over $600 million).
"In my opinion, the council is holding my property without consent, and they don't even allow me to search for it. The last time I made an offer was a few weeks ago, and they still refused," he said.
After Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election, Bitcoin prices have continuously increased, currently nearing the $95,000 mark. Howells speculates that next year, the amount of Bitcoin on his hard drive could be worth £1 billion ($1.2 billion).
The city landfill contains over 1.4 million tons of waste, but he claims to have narrowed down the location of the hard drive to an area containing about 100,000 tons.
"There is an object in Newport worth nearly $750 million and the city council does not want to search for it. I am still willing to avoid litigation and have a quick, reasonable conversation with the city council. They need to come and talk to me," Howells said.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Newport city council stated: "Mr. Howells has filed a civil lawsuit against the council for approximately £0.5 billion. This claim is unfounded and the council strongly opposes it."
