A UK man’s multi-year effort to search a local landfill for a lost hard drive containing thousands of Bitcoin has been rejected by a High Court, ending his latest attempt to recover the missing fortune.
James Howells, an IT engineer from Newport, Wales, accidentally discarded a hard drive in 2013 that contained the private keys to a wallet holding 7,500 Bitcoin. At today's valuation, the lost cryptocurrency is worth hundreds of millions of pounds.
Howells had mined the Bitcoin himself in 2009 when the network was still in its infancy and the digital currency had little to no monetary value. Several years later, the hard drive was mistakenly thrown away by his partner at the time. It is believed to be buried somewhere in the local Newport landfill site.
As the value of Bitcoin skyrocketed over the following years, Howells made repeated formal requests to the Newport City Council for permission to conduct a targeted excavation of the landfill. He proposed using a combination of AI-powered data analysis, soil-penetrating radar, and robotic digging arms to locate the drive.
He even offered the council a significant share of the potential recovery—pledging to donate 10% of the Bitcoin’s value to community projects in Newport and sharing a portion of the profits with the local authority. Despite this, the council consistently denied his applications.
The council’s refusal led Howells to pursue legal action. However, the High Court recently dismissed his claim, stating it had "no real prospect of success" and contained "no compelling legal argument."
Howells expressed deep disappointment with the ruling, stating that he believed the court did not give his proposal a fair hearing. He emphasized that his motivation was not purely personal greed but a desire to benefit the wider community with the recovered funds.
A barrister representing Newport City Council, James Goudie KC, argued that permitting the excavation would violate environmental protection laws. He also stated that, under UK law, any waste deposited at the council-run landfill becomes the property of the city, making the hard drive itself council property.
Furthermore, Goudie characterized Howells’s offer to share the proceeds as an incentive for the council to break its own legal and environmental obligations—a risk it was not willing to take.
In the written judgment, the judge noted that even if the case were to go to a full trial, the chance of success was minimal. The landfill in question is estimated to contain over 1.4 million tonnes of waste. Howells’s team claims they have narrowed the search area to a section holding roughly 100,000 tonnes of material.
The Challenges of Recovering Lost Crypto
This case highlights a growing issue in the cryptocurrency world: irreversible asset loss. Unlike traditional bank accounts, crypto wallets are secured by private keys—complex cryptographic passwords. If these keys are lost or destroyed, the funds they control are permanently inaccessible.
This also underscores the physical nature of digital assets. "Cold wallets," stored on hardware devices like hard drives or USB sticks, are considered one of the most secure ways to hold crypto long-term. However, they introduce a single point of failure—if the physical device is lost and its recovery seed phrase is not stored separately, the funds are gone forever.
For those looking to secure their own digital assets properly, understanding storage best practices is crucial. 👉 Explore secure storage methods for digital assets
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly did James Howells lose?
He lost a computer hard drive that contained the private keys to a Bitcoin wallet. Whoever controls these keys controls the Bitcoin. Without the drive or a backup of the keys, the 7,500 Bitcoin are effectively lost forever.
Why won't the city council let him search the landfill?
The council cites two main reasons: environmental regulations and legal ownership. Excavating a landfill is a major operation that could release toxins and violate their environmental permits. Furthermore, they argue that any waste disposed of at their facility becomes their property.
Could the hard drive still work after all these years in a landfill?
It is highly unlikely, but not entirely impossible. Data recovery experts note that hard drives are fragile and can be damaged by moisture, pressure, and corrosive materials common in landfills. However, if the specific platters where the data is stored remain intact, specialized lab recovery might be possible.
How common is it for people to lose access to their Bitcoin?
Extremely common. Chainalysis, a blockchain analysis firm, estimates that millions of Bitcoin have been lost forever due to lost private keys, forgotten passwords, or discarded hardware. This permanent loss reduces the circulating supply of the cryptocurrency.
What is the best way to avoid losing cryptocurrency?
The best practice is to use a reputable hardware wallet and, most importantly, securely write down and store the 12- or 24-word recovery seed phrase it generates. This phrase should be kept in multiple safe and separate locations, not just on a single digital device.
Could this situation have been prevented?
Yes. This incident serves as a critical lesson in the importance of robust backup strategies. Digital asset owners should always have multiple, secure copies of their recovery seed phrases stored in different physical locations to prevent a single point of failure. 👉 Learn how to create a secure backup plan