James Howells Loses Battle Over $740 Million Hard Drive
By Lubwama S.
LONDON — James Howells, a British IT worker, has lost his decade-long fight to retrieve a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoin, valued at $740 million, from a Welsh landfill. The hard drive was inadvertently discarded in 2013 during a household clearout.
Mr. Howells sued the Newport City Council, seeking $646 million in damages after being repeatedly denied permission to excavate the landfill. Despite proposing detailed plans for environmentally safe excavation and modernization of the site, his efforts were stymied by environmental concerns and logistical challenges.
James Howells at the Newport landfill site where his hard drive is believed to be located. Photograph: Dimitris Legakis/Athena Pictures
On January 10, 2025, a U.K. judge dismissed the case, citing a lack of “reasonable grounds” for success. “The potential risks to the environment and public safety far outweigh the speculative recovery of the hard drive,” the ruling stated.
The decision marks a significant setback for Mr. Howells, who first realized the loss in 2013 when Bitcoin was valued at just $1.3 million. As Bitcoin’s value has soared to record highs, his frustration over the missed fortune has grown exponentially.
Bitcoin’s recent surge underscores the magnitude of the loss, and the case highlights ongoing debates about cryptocurrency’s tangible and intangible risks. For Mr. Howells, the dream of recovering his digital fortune now seems definitively out of reach.
