James Howells, whose girlfriend accidentally threw away 8,000 Bitcoins in Newport, may now be worth $800 million as Bitcoin hit $100,000 today.
On Monday, Howells appeared at a Welsh court to plead and search for a lost hard drive in a Newport waste site.
Forgotten Bitcoin Assets Buried in Welsh Landfill
During the civil court hearing in Cardiff on December 2, the council asked for Howells’ case to be dismissed. The council’s legal team argues that any items discarded at landfill become the property of the council.
They rejected Howells’ offer to share in the recovery proceeds, arguing it was an attempt to buy back something the council could not legally sell.
In contrast, Howells’ legal team, led by Dean Armstrong KC, argued that the search was conducted through a targeted excavation. Armstrong emphasized that the plan is supported by data recovery and excavation experts working on a contingency basis, with compensation tied to Bitcoin recovery.
“Somewhere in the Newport landfill there is a hard drive containing 8,000 BTC (now $704 million). Many people say that James Howells is still picking through the trash. So you can feel better about your investing mistakes, having never lost so much,” Adam Singer write on X (formerly Twitter).
A Series of Misfortunes
In 2013, Howells accidentally placed the hard drive in a black bag while cleaning his office. His girlfriend at the time, mistakenly thinking it was trash, took the bag to the local scrap yard.
Immediately after realizing his mistake, Howells approached the Newport City Council, offering to share part of the lost Bitcoins for permission to search that area. Howells even proposed a 25% bonus to the council for their approval of the dig.
However, the council repeatedly denied his request. If his claim is rejected, Howells’ story will go down as a historical misfortune for Bitcoin – similar to the story of Bitcoin Pizza Day. In 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 Bitcoin for two pizzas, which at the time cost $41. These Bitcoins could now be worth a billion USD after Bitcoin hit the $100,000 milestone.
But the stories of both Howells and Hanyecz will always be remembered as shocking misfortunes in the history of digital assets. There is still hope for Howells if the Welsh court approves Newport council’s plans to find a landfill. However, it can be like finding a needle in a haystack, or even more difficult.