An intrepid IT engineer in the UK is digging through trash to find a lost hard drive with a discarded Bitcoin fortune on it.
James Howells, based in Newport, Wales, is suing the local council over a claim of £495 million ($524 million) in damages. That’s the peak value of his lost Bitcoin, lost on a hard drive that was discarded in August 2013.
Howells’ then-partner accidentally threw the valuable hard drive away, at a time when the coins were trading for around $130. Now, the value is nearly $66,000 a coin.
Clearly motivated to regain access to the hard drive, Howells is offering the local council 10% of the value recouped from it in an attempt to organize a dig. These efforts are said to cost around £10 million, something the council will not allow, stating that it is the only entity with authority over the site.
What are the next steps in the crypto-trash case?
The case is new going to court in December, with Howell suing for damages and demanding access to the landfill site. Howells told WalesOnline that he’s prepared to take the case to the country’s Supreme Court in the hope of gaining access back to the crypto funds. At the moment, he’s working with investors, to whom 70% of the proceeds would go if the hard drive is found.
After several years in a landfill, the likelihood of the lost hard drive being in good enough condition to access are getting increasingly low. However, Howells’ legal team believes there’s an 80% chance of the drive still working if found soon.
Howells is putting all of his energy into the efforts to recover the hard drive, noting that he is currently experiencing “financial struggles.”
“My finances are not in the best position at the moment,” he told WalesOnline. “I’m focusing all my current efforts and resources, including money, on the recovery project. I struggle along in the meantime.
“But the legal effort is covered. We’re willing to go all the way to the appeals court, the Supreme Court. With a case of this magnitude, I’m expecting to go the full distance. I didn’t really want to go to court but this is the final shot.”
