UK Court Blocks $770M Bitcoin Recovery from Landfill

A UK court has ruled against James Howells, a Welsh IT engineer, in his effort to recover a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoin from a Newport landfill. The court dismissed the case, citing high costs and environmental risks associated with excavation, leaving Howells unable to retrieve Bitcoin now worth over $770 million.

James Howells lost the hard drive in 2013 after his partner accidentally disposed of it. The Bitcoin, mined in 2009, has since surged in value. Over the past decade, Howells repeatedly proposed excavating the landfill to recover the drive, offering to cover the costs and share 25% of the recovered Bitcoin with the city council. However, the Newport City Council rejected his requests each time, citing financial and environmental concerns.

Today, Judge Keyser, Circuit Commercial Judge for Wales, dismissed Howells’ lawsuit. He ruled that there were “no reasonable grounds” for the claim and “no realistic prospect” of success in a full trial. The decision closes a chapter in Howells’ decade-long attempt to reclaim his cryptocurrency fortune.

This story echoes another famous Bitcoin incident—Bitcoin Pizza Day. In 2012, programmer Laszlo Hanyecz made the first recorded real-world Bitcoin transaction by purchasing two pizzas from Papa John’s for 10,000 BTC, worth $41 at the time. Today, that amount would exceed $700 million, showing the meteoric rise of Bitcoin’s value since its inception.

Hanyecz’s transaction and Howells’ misfortune highlight both the dramatic growth of Bitcoin and the high stakes involved in the early days of digital assets. While Howells’ loss serves as a cautionary tale, it also underscores how far cryptocurrency has come since 2009. Despite their different outcomes, these stories remain pivotal in Bitcoin’s history, illustrating its evolution and the fortunes tied to its rise.