- James Howells aims to buy a Welsh landfill to recover 8,000 Bitcoins, valued at over 740 million euros, lost in 2013.
- Despite legal setbacks, Howells’ efforts to retrieve his Bitcoin stash continue as the cryptocurrency’s value rises, now worth $779 million.
A Welsh computer engineer, James Howells, is recovering a hard drive he believes holds 8,000 Bitcoins, a fortune currently valued at over 740 million euros. After spending more than a decade trying to locate the misplaced hard drive from a landfill in Newport, Howells is now proposing to buy the entire landfill in a final bid to recover the valuable cryptocurrency stash.
Back in 2013, Howells, a computer engineer, accidentally tossed out a hard drive containing his Bitcoin wallet, which held 8,000 BTC. The incident occurred when he mistakenly placed the drive into a black bag, which his ex-girlfriend later took to the dump. Bitcoin was not widely known at the time, and the wallet was worth a mere fraction of its current value. However, as Bitcoin’s price surged over the years, Howells realized that the hard drive’s contents were worth millions.
The British guy who lost a hard drive with 8,000 Bitcoin in 2013 wants to buy the whole landfill—1.4 million tons of trash—so he can search for it.
His fiancée threw it away, thinking it wasn’t important. They broke up, and he’s spent 12+ years digging through garbage for his… pic.twitter.com/czyvc28QRz
— Tom Valentino (@TomValentinoo) February 12, 2025
Despite attempts to locate the drive, Howells’ efforts were unsuccessful, as the hard drive was disposed of at a landfill in South Wales. For years, he has been seeking permission from the Newport City Council to search the site, offering to share a portion of the possible recovery with the city. However, the city council has resisted his efforts, arguing that the hard drive became their property once it entered the landfill.
Legal Battles and New Proposals
In 2024, Howells tried to take legal action to retrieve the hard drive, suing the city council for either the return of the drive or a compensation of £495 million. However, as mentioned in our previous post, a High Court judge dismissed his case in January and ruled that there were no reasonable grounds to examine the matter further. The judge also stated that the chances of recovering the hard drive were unrealistic due to the passage of time and the nature of the landfill.
In light of this setback, Howells is now exploring a new avenue to retrieve the hard drive by purchasing the landfill. He has reportedly discussed the possibility of buying the site with investment partners. As reported by BBC, this offer comes after Newport City Council announced that the landfill would close soon for a solar farm, a development that could end any chance of finding the hard drive.
The Bitcoin That Could Have Been
Howells originally purchased the 8,000 Bitcoins for a small sum in 2009, when the cryptocurrency was still in its infancy. When he realized his mistake in 2013, as reported by CNF, Bitcoin had already begun to climb in value, but the wallet was still worth only around $5 million. However, as of today, the value of the same stash has surged to more than $779 million, making the effort to retrieve the hard drive all the more compelling.
Despite his legal setbacks, Howells remains determined to recover the lost Bitcoin. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $96,894 per coin. The value of the missing digital currency continues to grow, further intensifying his efforts. However, it remains to be seen if the city council will entertain his latest proposal or if Howells will be forced to give up on his quest.
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