James Howells lost a hard drive containing 8.000 Bitcoins in 2013. Today, worth millions of dollars, he's fighting to recover it, facing legal and technological challenges.
This story has made the front pages of global newspapers covering the crypto issue.It's that of James Howells, who over a decade ago lost a hard drive containing the codes for Bitcoins, now valued at hundreds of millions of dollars.
This computer engineer based in Newport, Wales, UK, says that In 2013, his girlfriend accidentally discarded a hard drive containing approximately 8.000 Bitcoins. obtained through mining at home shortly after the launch of the cryptocurrency that would revolutionize the world of DeFi in 2009.
Back then, when BTC was unknown to most And by the time it was written off as an asset and its value had increased, Howells already had a considerable fortune lost in a local landfill.
Today, if those cryptocurrencies still exist on a hard drive discarded in the trash, their value would exceed 400 millones de eurosDespite the numerous obstacles he's faced, Howells remains determined to win it back.
The value of BTC has grown very significantly in recent months and with the estimated hard drive (as of Q2025 XNUMX) at about 783 million dollarsHowells finds it logical to dedicate his workday and energy to this task, especially when his other projects are also related to cryptocurrencies.
It all started in 2013, when Howells' ex-partner accidentally threw away a hard drive containing 8.000 BitcoinsThis device ended up in a landfill managed by Newport City Council.
There is no legal way out
Last January, A Superior Court judge in the city denied Howells' request for access to the landfill. or receive compensation of 495 million pounds, equivalent to about 630 million dollars for the loss of the hardware.
According to the court, there were no "reasonable grounds" to present the plaintiff's claim. The judgment also states that there is no "realistic prospect" of the case proceeding in a future trial.
In his ruling, Judge André Kemper equated the case of the hard drive with 8000 BTC with the situation of having discarded a private access key to a bank written on a piece of paper and stressed that the inability to access Bitcoin without the key was Howells' sole responsibility.
However, James Howells does not faint and currently, with the support of artificial intelligence to legally represent itself, is working on an appeal that he plans to file with the Newport Court of Appeal.
The legal part not being enough, he has expressed to the UK and world press his interest in acquire the land on which the garbage dump is locatedThis gained further momentum for Howells after the city announced its intention to close it during the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
Journalists, enthusiasts and independent researchers have failed to Official statements from Newport City Council which said in a statement that it would not issue further comments on the matter.
The role of AI in defense
Howells told BBC News that he was pleased with the performance of your team of lawyers and his legal work during the High Court trial. However, given the outcome, he indicated that for the case he will present before the Court of Appeal, he will choose to represent himself as permitted by the nation's laws. However, in this case, he will have the assistance of an artificial intelligence agent to support his claim.
According to the computer engineer, AI is "a truly amazing technology""This has allowed him to more clearly understand UK court procedures and law. He also stated that he believes he has at least seven "solid legal arguments" to support his claim, and these are the ones he hopes to present in person before the Court of Appeal.
Buy the landfill?
Although the case was dismissed in court with Judge Keyser's ruling, the story doesn't end there and took an unexpected turn. Newport City Council announced it plans to close the landfill by the end of 2026.They supported the decision by framing it within a project to convert this site into a solar farm for clean energy.
This has opened a new door for Howells, who now sees a possibility of purchasing the landfill for recover the hard driveThis is what he himself expressed on his account on the social network X, formerly known as Twitter.
However, the feasibility of this purchase is subject to legal and logistical matters in NewportAccording to Howells, he has already negotiated this option with several unnamed investment partners, who remain unknown.
However, This ambitious plan runs into several uncertainties and laws. It all hinges on several determining factors, such as the local council's attitude, potential legal and logistical challenges, and the existing solar farm project.
Arguments for appeal
Following the High Court ruling by Judge Andrew Keys, Howells decided to go to the Court of Appeal. There, with an intelligence paralegal artificial, The engineer will present his plans in response to the city council's decision to close the landfill.
According to what Howells revealed, this is something that should have been made known during the trial in the High Court. Likewise, part of its appeal will focus on the fact that once the landfill is in its hands, the City Council will save significant maintenance costs, since it is committed to extracting and recycling everything found on the land. The idea is that At the end of the process you would have the hard drive and a clean, empty dump..
In the High Court judgment, City authorities claimed that the hard drive became their property when it entered the landfill.However, Howells argued that this was the case, since it was his ex-partner who dumped him, not him.
