Additional Coverage:
- Man in yearslong battle to retrieve lost Bitcoin hard drive worth around $800 million offers to buy landfill (foxbusiness.com)
A Welshman is offering to buy a local landfill in a desperate attempt to recover a lost hard drive containing a Bitcoin key potentially worth $800 million.
James Howells accidentally threw away the hard drive in 2013 while cleaning his office. He’s been battling Newport City Council for years, requesting permission to search the landfill.
Howells previously offered to fund the excavation and share 25% of the recovered Bitcoin with the council. A judge dismissed his claim, citing no realistic chance of success.
Now, with the landfill facing closure, Howells has upped the ante, proposing to purchase the entire site. He envisions cleaning the area and converting it into a park, or potentially restoring it as a landfill after his search.
Howells, a computer science analyst, mined the Bitcoin in the late 2000s. The hard drive, from an old gaming computer, holds the only copy of his 51-character private key needed to access the Bitcoin wallet.
He realized his costly mistake months later, as the value of Bitcoin soared. The council remains skeptical about the feasibility of recovering the 12-year-old hard drive.
Undeterred, Howells compares the hard drive to an $800 million needle in a haystack, emphasizing his willingness to search tirelessly.