His name is James howells, the protagonist of a unique story involving cryptocurrencies. Since 2017, it has been known that he has maintained a legal claim against a garbage dump in Newport, WalesThe man is of British nationality and wishes Recover a hard drive on which you stored Bitcoins, but then accidentally discarded it. He insists his hard drive is at the landfill, but authorities have never given him permission to search for it.
When did James Howells lose his hard drive? threw it in the trash by mistake in 2013. Apparently, he has made numerous attempts to recover it, but in 2017 he filed a lawsuit, complaining that the city council had not given him the opportunity to search through the mounds of rubbish. The authorities maintain strict control over the rubbish dumps, as they do not want people to enter and rummage, while the health regulations are radical.
PREPARE YOUR WALLETIt took James Howells four months to request permission to search his hard drive.
We are talking about the year 2013. Apparently, It took Howells a while to realize he had lost his hard drive., until he finally realized that he had unintentionally placed it among the trash, along with other objects and outdated technological pieces. This is how Four months after losing the storage unit, he reported to authorities in Newport asking for permission to search their device. But they said no!
Why the refusal? The city council does allow searching for objects thrown in waste dumps, but This request must be made immediately. For every week that passes, they accumulate tons and tons of garbage, making it impossible to find anything beneath the layers of debris. Recovering James Howells's hard drive requires moving several meters of trash scattered in layers, which would be dangerous. Moving so much garbage exposes you to germs and contaminationIn fact, there are health regulations that prohibit moving layers of accumulated garbage.
This health prerogative became stricter after the pandemic. To search for something that has been in a garbage dump for so long, you need a special permit.. In turn, local authorities would have to implement a sanitary cordon, along with a vaccination day for those who work in the task of digging something up from under tons of waste. This whole process is not justified in the search for a hard drive, even if James Howells claims there's a fortune buried in that Newport dump..
James Howells offered a reward in Bitcoins
In 2017, Howells went from making a “request” to making a demand. He insists that They are denying the right to recover their BitcoinsAdded to this is the fact that, year after year, Bitcoin has multiplied its value. Therefore, the hard drive buried in the trash is a true fortune, one James Howells is determined to continue fighting for.
Desperate, faced with the constant refusals of the city council, Howells promised a reward in Bitcoins. He offered it to the authorities a percentage of the Bitcoins stored on your hard drive (10% of the Bitcoins), But unfortunately for him, Newport City Council ruled the offer a "bribe," an attempt to force an institution to break the law. This led to Howells receiving a bribery charge, which has complicated his legal situation.
Sponsors and treasure hunters
You can not deny that James howells He is persistent and creative. He campaigned to have his request accepted. promised to take care of all the expenses and work necessary to unearth his hard drive and even has a team of “treasure hunters"who accompany him, who are literally willing to dive into the trash. Howells has promised to pay them all, but will give an extra reward for whoever extracts their hard drive from the rubbishThis has led many “volunteers” to join their cause, offering to unearth the treasure.
But, as we have already said, the matter has already gone to court. Judge Keyser KC is the one who leads the case and has described James Howells' request as unrealistic. It is said that the hard drive is most likely already unusable. It was thrown into the landfill in 2013, so it is already has accumulated more than a decade under the weight of a lot of garbageFurthermore, rain percolates through the layers of waste and forms pockets of water in the lower strata of the landfill, damaging any electronic device. So the judge isn't planning to grant an excavation permit for a device that's likely already useless.
700 million euros buried under garbage
That's the amount of money James Howells calculates for the Bitcoins he had on his hard drive! It's worth noting that this cryptocurrency has increased in value year after year. How much did Bitcoin cost in 2013? In that year (when Howells threw his hard drive in the trash) Bitcoin ranged between $130 and $100. In December 2024, Bitcoin surpasses $100.000, to then descend to some $83.000 by early 2025With its ups and downs, this cryptocurrency has always tended to rise year after year.
The truth is that James Howells has had a new idea: offered to buy the garbage dump. He has contacted financiers and banks willing to raise the money to buy the landfill. Howells estimates that the 700 millones de euros He'll have enough to pay off the loans, subsidize the work to unearth the hard drive, and still have a good fortune left. So he's already made the offer to Newport City Council.
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But the Welsh government has already said that The city council cannot sell a garbage dump. It is a public utility property, with a very regulated use. They have already told Howells, almost to the point of exhaustion, that Digging up something that has been under layers of garbage for more than ten years is dangerous for public health.Many germs and pathogens would be exposed, which would be a public health problem that the city council is not willing to trigger. However, James Howells is still willing to recover his hard drive and have his Bitcoins back to enjoy a fortune that he currently estimates at 700 millones de euros. But, don't forget that Bitcoins are worth more and more every year!
Investing in cryptoassets is not fully regulated, may not be suitable for retail investors due to high volatility and there is a risk of losing all invested amounts.
