Man Who Lost £620M Bitcoin in Landfill Now Wants to Buy the Site
Imagine losing a fortune worth £620 million—just vanishing into a landfill. That’s exactly what happened to James Howells, a computer engineer from Newport, Wales, who accidentally threw away a hard drive containing 8,000 bitcoins back in 2013. For over a decade, he has been fighting to recover it, but after multiple legal battles, he has now come up with a bold new plan—buying the entire landfill himself.
Howells’ story is one of persistence and frustration. He mistakenly discarded the hard drive while cleaning his office, not realizing it contained what is now an enormous fortune in Bitcoin. By the time he recognized the mistake, it was too late—the drive was buried under 1.4 million tonnes of waste at Newport’s Docks Way landfill. Over the years, he has proposed numerous ways to search for it, even offering to share the recovered money with the city. However, Newport City Council has repeatedly denied his requests, citing environmental concerns and logistical challenges.
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Recently, things took a surprising turn. The council announced plans to close the landfill by 2026 and repurpose the site for a solar farm. This decision stunned Howells, who had been told during his court battle that closing the site for his search would be too disruptive. Now, with the landfill set to shut down anyway, he sees a new opportunity—if he can’t gain access through legal means, why not just buy the site himself?
Howells has been in discussions with investment partners, exploring the possibility of purchasing the landfill "as is" so he can personally fund an excavation. He remains determined to retrieve his lost fortune, despite a recent court ruling dismissing his case. Judge Keyser, who oversaw the case, ruled that too much time had passed since the drive was lost, and there was no realistic prospect of success. But Howells isn’t giving up. He plans to appeal the decision and continue fighting for the chance to recover what he believes is rightfully his.
Bitcoin’s value has soared since 2013, making Howells’ lost hard drive one of the most expensive mistakes in history. The volatility of cryptocurrency means its worth could fluctuate, but one thing is clear—if he ever gets his hands on that hard drive, it could change his life forever. Until then, the battle for the buried Bitcoin continues.
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