A man trying to recover a hard drive containing $750 million of bitcoin from a landfill just had his latest bid rejected

James Howells, a British man who accidentally discarded a hard drive containing 8,000 bitcoins in 2013, has faced another legal setback in his decade-long quest to recover it. The hard drive, now worth approximately $757 million, is believed to be buried in a landfill in Newport, Wales. A judge recently rejected Howells’ legal bid to access the site or seek £495 million ($608 million) in compensation from Newport City Council.

The judge ruled that the council legally owns the hard drive as it became its property upon entering the landfill and deemed Howells’ claim unlikely to succeed at trial. Despite the setback, Howells remains determined to continue his fight, emphasizing that while the council may own the physical drive, he still owns the bitcoin.

For more information see Nora Redmond “A man trying to recover a hard drive containing $750 million of bitcoin from a landfill just had his latest bid rejected” Yahoo Finance, January 11, 2025.