IT Engineer Loses Legal Battle Over $770 Million Bitcoin Hard Drive

According to Cointelegraph, James Howells, an IT engineer from Newport, Wales, has lost his legal battle to retrieve a hard drive containing Bitcoin valued at over $770 million. The hard drive, which holds Bitcoin mined in 2009, was accidentally discarded in a landfill. However, Howells has been denied access to the site by the Newport City Council due to environmental regulations. In a recent development, Judge Keyser, the Circuit Commercial Judge for Wales, dismissed Howells' legal case that sought permission to access the Newport landfill to recover the hard drive. The judge stated that the case had "no realistic prospect" of success if it proceeded to a full trial, as reported by the BBC on January 9. Since 2013, Howells has persistently requested access to the landfill, even offering a portion of the Bitcoin's value to the council if the hard drive were to be found. His case attracted increased attention in 2024, coinciding with Bitcoin's historic surge to $100,000, which resulted in over 130% returns for the year. Cointelegraph has reached out to Howells for further comments on the situation.