Here is an update on the story of James Howells that we reported on previously here at HowToBuyBitcoin.org. Howells is better known as the man from Newport, Wales, who accidentally threw away a hard drive containing 7,500Bitcoin now worth more than $700 million at current prices. Howells claims his ex-girlfriend mistakenly tossed out a hard drive containing 7,500 Bitcoin back in 2013. After just recently losing a lawsuit against the Newport Council requesting to be allowed to excavate the landfall, he’s turning it up a notch. Now he wants to buy the entire landfill site where he believes the drive is buried.
Howells has spent years trying to get permission from Newport Council to search the landfill on Docks Way, where the hard drive was thrown out. Despite his efforts, the council has mostly ignored his requests. Recently, Howells even tried to sue the council for £495 million (around $646 million), which was the highest value of the lost Bitcoin earlier this year. However, his case was dismissed by a judge in January.
With time running out, Howells is now discussing the idea of purchasing the landfill site outright with potential investors. According to a report from the BBC, he said, “I have discussed this option recently with investment partners and it is very much on the table.” If he manages to buy the land, he hopes to finally get the chance to dig for the lost hard drive.
However, there’s another challenge ahead. Newport Council plans to close the landfill site in the next financial year and has already secured permission to build a solar power farm on the land. The council declined to comment on the situation, leaving Howells’ chances of recovering his Bitcoin uncertain.
Keep Your Bitcoin Safe
Bitcoin is stored in digital wallets, and losing access to the wallet—like in Howells’ case with the discarded hard drive—means you lose access to the coins themselves. There’s no way to recover them unless you find the original storage device.
Let this remind us to always back up our digital wallets and keep our storage devices safe. After all, we may never know how much that Bitcoin could be worth in the future!
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