Judge Ends One Man’s 11-Year Quest to Recover $765 Million in Bitcoin by Digging a Dump

A British judge has ruled against a man who wanted to dig up a landfill where he says a hard drive with access to thousands of bitcoins was accidentally dumped 11 years ago.

Since 2013, James Howells has been hoping to recover a laptop hard drive that he says contains the private key of a cryptocurrency he said he mined in 2009. Ars wrote about it at the time, noting that the value of bitcoin had just passed $1,000. , making 7,500 bitcoins worth $7.5 million.

The alleged number of bitcoins has changed slightly, with Howells now claiming to have lost 8,000 bitcoins. The value of bitcoin exceeded $ 100,000 last month and was $ 95,636 as of last Friday, or $ 765 million for 8,000 bitcoins.

High Court Judge Keyser KC ruled last week, siding with the accused Howells v. Newport City Council. Howells has no realistic chance of success at trial, the judge said. Howells sought “an order that the defendant deliver the hard drive or allow his team of experts to dig up the dump to find it, and (otherwise) compensation equal to the amount of Bitcoin he will no longer have access to.” “

The waste disposal authority manages the waste

The council said digging up the landfill would allow hazardous materials to enter the environment, putting residents at “risk that could cause public health problems and environmental concerns,” the decision said.

The judge did not find “reasonable grounds for the trial,” saying “there is no realistic prospect of success at trial and there is no other compelling reason why it should be dismissed at trial.” He granted summary judgment for the defendant, dismissing the claim.

This decision cites the Control of Pollution Act 1974, which states that “anything brought to the authorities by another person during the use of these buildings will belong to the authority and can be dealt with accordingly.” Howells “submitted that section 14(6)(c) simply states that anything delivered will belong to the authority but does not mean that it will cease to belong to its previous owner,” the ruling said. The judge disagreed, writing that “the words ‘shall be of authority’ are inappropriate and not prohibited.”

The judge found no reason to rule that the defendant who keeps the hard drive is “unconscionable” under the law. “In my opinion, there would be no realistic hope that it would be found that the accused kept the Hard Drive without paying attention. The defendant did not keep it for profit or because he wanted it. It kept it because it was buried in a garbage dump,” said the decision.

Statute of Limitations

The claim is also barred by the six-year statute of limitations because Howells “knew the facts of her claim in November 2013 but did not commence trial until May 2024,” the ruling said.

The judge did not have to rule on whether the hard drive actually contained access to bitcoin, stating that “the only issues involved in this case are ownership, and access rights to the hard drive.” Howells sought access to a landfill in Newport, Wales, in November 2013, but local officials refused. He says the hard drive is 2½ inches in size and contains a wallet.dat file with a private key that would allow access to bitcoin.

The city council said the drilling would breach the terms of its license with the NRW (Natural Resources Body for Wales), cause health and safety risks to workers, risk injuries from walking on the ground during or after drilling, and prevent the council from being “expelled.[ing] its waste disposal operations during mining.”