Key Points
- James Howells’ appeal to search a landfill for his lost 8,000 BTC, valued at $672 million, was dismissed by a UK court.
- Despite setbacks, Howells plans to make a final appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
James Howells, a British IT expert, has faced another obstacle in his ten-year legal fight to retrieve a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoin [BTC].
His recent appeal was dismissed by a UK court, reducing his chances of reclaiming his lost fortune, currently valued at around $672 million.
How 8,000 Bitcoin Ended Up in a Landfill
In 2013, Howells mistakenly discarded a laptop hard drive with the private keys to his Bitcoin holdings when Bitcoin was trading at roughly $100 per coin.
The hard drive, which was then worth about $800,000, ended up in the Docksway landfill in Newport, Wales.
Since then, Bitcoin’s price has skyrocketed to $83,969.10 as of March 2025, pushing the value of the lost Bitcoin into the hundreds of millions.
Legal Battles and Courtroom Setbacks
Howells has attempted multiple times to get permission from Newport City Council to dig up the landfill in hopes of finding the hard drive.
Despite offering to fund the operation himself and promising a portion of the recovered Bitcoin to the council and local community, his requests have been consistently denied due to environmental and legal concerns.
In December 2024, Howells filed a lawsuit against the council, demanding £495 million in damages and arguing that he should be allowed to search for his lost digital wealth.
However, in January 2025, Judge Keyser KC ruled against him, stating that his case had “no realistic prospect of succeeding.”
The court upheld the council’s stance that anything thrown away in the landfill legally becomes council property, reinforcing their decision to block excavation.
A Final Attempt: What’s Next for Howells?
Despite the court’s decision, Howells is not giving up. He has publicly announced his intention to take his case to the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that Newport City Council’s refusal infringes on his property rights.
This could be his last chance to secure legal permission to search for the missing Bitcoin.
Adding to the urgency, the council plans to close the landfill by 2026 to build a solar farm on the site.
Howells has suggested that if legal avenues fail, he might try to purchase the landfill to gain control over the search operation.
Whether he will be able to acquire the land and whether the hard drive can be recovered after over a decade is still uncertain.
