Man who threw away $632,000,000 Bitcoin says he has 'finely tuned' plan to recover it after a decade

Published 18:41 4 Dec 2024 GMT

The battle between Bitcoin man and the council rages on

A man who lost a hard drive with $632 million Bitcoin on it has hit back at the council, claiming he's managed to identify a 'small area' where it could lie in a landfill site.

James Howells' battle against Newport City Council in Wales to get his hands back on a hard drive - reported as holding an eye-watering $632 million Bitcoin - continues.

The IT engineer says 8,000 Bitcoins were stored on a hard drive which a former partner accidentally threw out in 2013.

After realizing the mistake, Howells rushed to contact the council and explain the situation, alas, the council refused to let him go to the landfill site in search of the drive.

Howells resolved to sue the council for $648 million and went about coming up with a plan to find where the hard drive lay in the site, a battle having continued for over 10 years.

A spokesperson for Newport Council said the council told Howells 'multiple times' an excavation is 'not possible under our environmental permit and that work of that nature would have a huge negative environmental impact on the surrounding area'.

It added it's the 'only body authorised to carry out operations on the site' and 'follows a strict monitoring and reporting regime for all environmental parameters'.

However, Howells has since argued he's been able to 'pinpoint' a pretty accurate location of where the hard drive should be.

At a hearing - to decide whether the case should go to a full trial - in Cardiff civil and family court, Howells' legal team argued all it would take to get the hard drive back is actually a 'precise excavation' of a 'small area' of the landfill site and that the area has been positively identified.

They added: "This is a finely tuned plan by expert excavators."

Howells also reportedly hired NASA data recovery engineers alongside using AI in his bid to locate the device.

Prior to the hearing, a spokesperson for Newport Council said: "Responding to Mr Howells’ baseless claims are costing the council and Newport taxpayers time and money which could be better spent on delivering services."

However, Howells has resolved: "I could spend the rest of my life working nine-to-five and thinking about it every day. I might as well spend my time trying to recover this simple piece of metal."

UNILAD has contacted Newport City Council for comment.