Updated January 9, 2:20 PM (UTC): This article has been updated to include Howells' response and a photo of his Bitcoin address.
James Howells, an IT engineer from Newport, Wales, lost his legal battle to recover a hard drive containing $770 million worth of Bitcoin.
A hard drive containing Bitcoin (BTC) mined in 2009 was accidentally thrown away and sent to a landfill. Newport City Council refused access to the landfill due to environmental permit restrictions.
Howells Bitcoin address. Source: James Howells
In the latest development, Wales' Circuit Commercial Judge Mr Justice Kaiser has dismissed Howells' lawsuit seeking access to Newport Landfill to retrieve the hard drives. According to To the BBC report on January 9th.
Kaiser said the case has “no realistic prospect” of success at a full trial.
Since 2013, Howells has repeatedly asked Congress to grant him access to the site, offering him a share of the missing bitcoins if the hard drives are found.
BTC/USD, 1 year chart. Source: Cointelegraph
Howells' case has gained attention as Bitcoin has seen a historic rise to $100,000 in 2024, generating annual returns of more than 130%.
Howells told Cointelegraph that the dismissal of the case was an unfortunate decision after a 12-year legal battle, and that his case had not been reviewed at the appropriate level.
“The British court system in general has failed me in the fact that my case has not been given the appropriate level of consideration commensurate with the value of the assets in question, and I have not even been given the opportunity to have justice at a full trial. I feel let down.''
However, the ownership of Mr. Howells' Bitcoin hard drive was not questioned at the court hearing, which is an important recognition, Mr. Howells said, adding:
“This will pave the way for taking appropriate steps to monetize the ownership of 8,000 Bitcoin digital assets through potential tokenization avenues in the future.”
Howells' legal team continues to negotiate with the Newport City Council and the courts over the final wording of the order.
Related: Bitcoin price falls to $92,500 due to Fed interest rate concerns: Analyst
The story of the $770 million Bitcoin hard drive
An early adopter of Bitcoin, Howells mined 8,000 BTC in 2009, when it cost almost nothing. He accidentally threw away his hard drive in 2013, when the cryptocurrency was trading for just $13.
BTC/USD, monthly chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
Since Howells began his legal battle in 2013, Bitcoin has appreciated more than 704,000 times in 12 years, according to data from Cointelegraph.
Related: KULR Technology predicts $200,000 Bitcoin price after buying $97,000 dip
Mr. Howells has been fighting for more than a decade to recover his lost BTC fortune. He has repeatedly sought to negotiate with Newport City Council for permission to search the landfill, but the council has consistently refused.
The council has also repeatedly refused to meet with Howells in person.
On October 11, 2024, the City Council announced that it had given Howells multiple notices stating that it was not possible to excavate under the environmental permit due to the “substantial negative environmental impact on the surrounding area.” did.
Mr Howells accused the council of breaching environmental regulations and claimed he had “100 independently verified pieces of evidence” to back up his claims.
Mr Howells said the council was in breach of the landfill permit “by leaking arsenic, asbestos, ammonium nitrate and methane gas into the local environment”.
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