IT Engineer Sues Newport City Council for £495 Million Over Lost Bitcoin

Key Takeaways:

• IT specialist sues Welsh council for £495M over discarded Bitcoin hard drive in landfill.
• The hard drive was thrown out in 2013, and despite numerous recovery attempts, the council has repeatedly denied his excavation requests.
• The council cites environmental concerns, while Howells believes he has a viable recovery plan.

James Howells, a British IT engineer, is making headlines as he sues Newport City Council for a staggering £495 million (approximately $647 million) over a lost Bitcoin stash. 

In 2013, Howells accidentally discarded a hard drive containing 8,000 BTC that he had mined in 2009. At the time, the value of Bitcoin was around $1 million, but today, it is estimated to be worth over $527 million.

NEWPORT COUNCIL HIT WITH $646M LAWSUIT OVER LOST 8K BTC

In a high-stakes legal battle, James Howells is suing Newport Council for $646 million to recover 8,000 BTC that he lost when his hard drive was accidentally thrown away in 2013.

Howells has assembled a team with a $13… pic.twitter.com/lhRbFkxESV

— Mario Nawfal’s Roundtable (@RoundtableSpace) October 15, 2024

His lawsuit seeks compensation for what he sees as a lost opportunity and damages caused by the council’s refusal to help recover the hard drive from a local landfill.

The Lost Bitcoin Stash And Newport Council's Refusal To Attempt Its Recovery

Howells’ story has become a cautionary tale within the cryptocurrency community. In 2013, during a routine household decluttering exercise, he mistakenly threw out a hard drive containing his mined Bitcoin. 

Reports from WalesOnline reveal that for over a decade, Howells has been seeking to retrieve the hard drive from the Newport landfill site, where it ended up. 

Despite several smart maneuvers and incentives from Howells, including offering the council a 10% share of Bitcoin’s recovered value, his requests have fallen on deaf ears.

The council's primary concern is the potential environmental impact of such an operation. The landfill site, which has already been flagged for breaches of environmental regulations, contains hazardous materials such as asbestos and methane. 

Officials argue that disturbing the landfill's structure to search for the hard drive could pose significant risks to the surrounding environment.

Although Howells has proposed plans that would come at no cost to the council, the environmental concerns remain a major sticking point.

In 2022, Howells outlined an $11 million recovery plan that involved a team of engineers and environmental specialists to locate the hard drive buried under approximately 110,000 tonnes of garbage. 

Nevertheless, the council remains skeptical, questioning the legal and logistical feasibility of such an operation.

The Legal Battle and Potential Outcome

Howells has now assembled a legal team to take his case to court, with a hearing scheduled for December. 

He argues that the council’s refusal to allow excavation constitutes negligence, especially given the potential value of the Bitcoin. 

The lawsuit seeks £495 million in damages, including the lost Bitcoin's current value and additional compensation for Howells's prolonged mental and financial strain throughout this ordeal.

The case could set a significant precedent for how municipalities handle private property issues, particularly in crypto. 

It also highlights the downside of storing cryptocurrency on physical hardware, a practice that has led to similar incidents of lost or misplaced Bitcoin.