After 10 years of struggle, he wants to buy back the famous landfill where his 8,000 bitcoins would be buried

James Howells, a 39-year-old British computer scientist, continues his relentless fight to recover a hard drive containing 8,000 bitcoins, now valued at over 750 million dollars. Facing the imminent closure of the landfill where his digital treasure is located, he is now considering a radical solution: buying the entire site from the Newport municipality.

A Briton’s Desperate Quest to Find 8,000 Bitcoins in a Landfill

In 2013, during a mundane office cleanup, James Howells makes the mistake that will change his life. He accidentally places his hard drive containing an 8000 bitcoin wallet in a black trash bag.

His then-girlfriend, thinking it was garbage, drops the bag off at the Newport municipal landfill in Wales. Since that fateful day, Howells has not stopped trying to recover what now represents a colossal fortune, making numerous proposals to the municipality, even offering a reward of 60 million dollars in 2022.

Faced with repeated refusals from the municipality, the computer scientist proposed increasingly ambitious solutions. In 2022, he even suggested using robot dogs and artificial intelligence to methodically search the 110,000 tons of waste, promising a reward of 60 million dollars to the city in case of success.

A Last Hope Before the Closure of the Site

Despite his efforts, Howells suffers a major setback in January 2024 when the High Court rejects his request for access to the landfill, stating that he had “no realistic prospect” of success. The situation worsens with the recent announcement of the upcoming closure of the site, which the Newport municipality plans to partially convert into a solar farm.

Yet, far from being discouraged, he is now proposing a bold solution: to buy the entire site. “I have discussed this option with investment partners, and it is something that is very much on the table,” he declared to the Guardian.

This proposal comes as the Newport city council has obtained a building permit to install a solar power plant on part of the land. The landfill, operated since the early 2000s, is filled to 80-90% of its capacity, which explains its planned closure within the next two years.

This extraordinary story illustrates not only the staggering stakes involved with cryptocurrencies, but also the crucial importance of securing digital assets. As Bitcoin reaches historic highs, these lost 8,000 bitcoins join the millions of others that are permanently inaccessible, paradoxically contributing to the scarcity of crypto.