James Howells, who 12 years ago threw away a hard drive containing 7,500 bitcoins, is considering buying a city dump after the municipality refused to help him find it
Briton James Howells, who threw away a hard drive containing 7,500 bitcoins in 2013, is considering buying the entire city dump to search for the device, The Guardian reports. Previously, the Newport city administration refused to help him, and the court sided with the officials, but Howells has not given up hope of finding his savings, whose value has grown to nearly $750 million over the years.
According to the Briton, the disk was thrown away by mistake 12 years ago and the man has been trying to get it back ever since. Howells has repeatedly asked local authorities to help him recover the hard drive, but has been turned down several times. He made various plans that included sorting through trash and sharing the bitcoins if found. The city administration explained their refusals by saying that excavation was impossible for legal, economic and environmental reasons.
The Briton began legal proceedings with the authorities, but the court eventually dismissed the lawsuit, in which Howells asked for access to the dump or compensation of £495 million (about $613 million). The judge said at the time that there was no “reasonable basis” for the claim.
The administration plans to close the landfill and has already received permission to build a solar power plant on part of its site, the newspaper reported. And Howells is now considering buying the landfill to find the missing fortune.
He said the news of the landfill's imminent closure came as a “complete surprise” to him. He said the administration had said in court that closing the landfill to find bitcoins would have a huge negative impact on Newport residents, and now it has come out that they were actually planning to close the landfill anyway.
“I expected it to close in the next few years because it's 80-90% full, but I didn't expect it to close so soon. If Newport City Council is willing, I would potentially be interested in buying the landfill 'as is'. I've discussed this option with investment partners and it's a distinct possibility,” Howells said.
According to reporters, city officials have resisted Howells' attempts to secure a permit to search for the drive. They insisted that the device became their property when it went into the landfill. The report said Newport officials declined to comment.
