UK Man Considers Buying Landfill to Search for Hard Drive with Lost Bitcoin Fortune

In 2013, James Howells, an IT professional from Newport, South Wales, inadvertently disposed of a hard drive containing approximately 8,000 bitcoins. At that time, the value of these digital coins was negligible; however, with the meteoric rise of cryptocurrency, their worth has now escalated to over £600 million. This significant sum remains buried beneath tonnes of refuse in a local landfill.

Howells’s journey into the world of Bitcoin began in 2009 when he mined the cryptocurrency during its early stages. Unforeseen circumstances led to the hard drive, which securely stored the private keys to his bitcoins, being discarded. Reflecting on the incident, Howells recounted that his ex-girlfriend mistakenly threw out the hard drive, leading to the loss of his digital fortune.

Determined to recover his lost assets, Howells approached Newport City Council multiple times, seeking permission to excavate the landfill. He proposed funding the entire operation and offered a substantial share of the recovered funds to the council and local residents. Despite his persistence, the council consistently denied his requests, citing environmental concerns and the potential impact on local infrastructure. In January 2025, a legal case he initiated was dismissed by Judge Keyser KC, who stated that Howells’s claim had “no realistic prospect of succeeding.”

Facing legal setbacks, Howells is now contemplating a novel approach: purchasing the landfill site outright. With Newport City Council planning to close and repurpose the site into a solar farm in the 2025-26 financial year, Howells sees a narrowing window of opportunity. He has engaged in discussions with investment partners about acquiring the site, expressing that this option is “very much on the table.”