Court Rejects Man's Bid to Recover $750M Bitcoin Hard Drive Lost in Landfill

James Howells' decade-long legal fight to search a Welsh landfill for a hard drive containing 8,000 bitcoins ends with a judge ruling his case has no realistic chance of success.

James Howells accidentally discarded a hard drive containing 8,000 bitcoins in 2013, now valued at approximately $750 million.
A British High Court judge ruled against Howells' legal bid to compel Newport City Council to allow excavation of the landfill or award him compensation.
The council argued that the hard drive became its property once it entered the landfill and cited environmental restrictions on excavation.
Howells assembled a team of experts and proposed advanced technologies, including AI and robotic tools, to locate the hard drive in 100,000 tonnes of waste.
Despite the ruling, Howells expressed his intention to continue pursuing legal avenues or other means to recover the Bitcoin fortune.