A man is suing Newport Council for nearly 500 million pounds to recover 8,000 Bitcoins (BTC), which he says were lost due to a mistake that led to his hard drive being dumped at a recycling center in 2013.
James Howells has filed the lawsuit as a “last resort” after more than a decade of being “largely ignored” by the council.
Lost Bitcoins
According to local media reports, Howells is seeking funding of just under half a billion pounds, which works out to $646.4 million. This represents the highest valuation of his Bitcoin holdings since the start of the year when the cryptocurrency hit an all-time high (ATH) of $73,737.
However, he emphasized that this number did not reflect the actual situation. Instead, they aim to “leverage” the council into allowing the landfill to be dug up to avoid legal disputes.
The 39-year-old has assembled a team of experts willing to carry out the £10 million ($13 million) excavation at no cost to the council. He also offered to share 10% of the value of the recovered coins, which he estimated could be about $53.5 million based on current prices.
Howells said he lost the hard drive during a home office cleanup due to a miscommunication with his partner at the time.
An early adopter of Bitcoin, he claims to have mined 8,000 coins with minimal fees. However, their value has skyrocketed since the incident, and if some predictions made by industry experts come true, the coins could be worth billions in the future.
Board Response
Since losing access to his Bitcoin, Howells has made a full-time recovery effort after leaving his IT job. Court filings state that the missing hard drives were in “Cell 2 – Area 2” at the Docksway Landfill, with experts estimating an 80% chance of data retrieval. They estimate excavation could take 18 to 36 months, followed by a year of environmental remediation.
Its team of experts confirmed that they were able to “safely excavate” the site with the help of AI. They also promised to help modernize the landfill, which has repeatedly violated permits since 2020 due to high levels of hazardous waste. Despite this, Newport Council allegedly ignored Howells’ offer.
Meanwhile, the board’s lawyers argued that they legally owned the hard drive because it was thrown away, while his lawyer argued that he never intended to leave it behind.
The group characterized Howells’ statement as “weak” and stated that the excavation was prohibited under their environmental permit. It also emphasized that it carries out rigorous environmental monitoring, and the related allegations were an attempt to divert attention from weaknesses in its claims.
The case will be heard in court in December, and the Welshman vowed to keep trying to recover the hard drive until a judge officially calls it quits.
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