There is a New Development About 768 Million Dollars of Bitcoin Accidentally Lost in the UK

British computer engineer James Howells is considering buying a landfill in Newport as part of his ongoing quest to recover a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoins, now worth an estimated $768 million, that he accidentally threw away in 2013.

Howells, from Newport, Wales, claims his friend accidentally threw the hard drive in the trash, which ended up buried in the city’s Docks Way dump. Despite Howells’ efforts to gain access to the site for a salvage operation or seek £495 million ($620 million) in damages, a judge dismissed the case, citing a lack of justification and the passage of time, which made the case unrealistic.

Newport City Council, which oversees the landfill, declined to comment further. The council plans to close the landfill in the 2025-26 financial year and has planning permission to develop a solar farm on the site to power the city’s new fleet of garbage trucks.

Howells expressed surprise at the Council’s decision to close the landfill, saying: “It’s quite surprising that the Council is planning to close the landfill so early, especially since they argued in the High Court that closing the landfill to allow me to search would have a huge detrimental impact on the people of Newport, while at the same time they were planning to close the landfill anyway.”

The landfill reportedly contains more than 1.4 million tons of waste, and Howells believes his hard drive is in a section of 100,000 tons. Howells is determined to get his lost crypto back and has discussed the possibility of purchasing the landfill with his investment partners.

“I would be interested in potentially purchasing the landfill,” he said, adding: “I have discussed that option with investment partners recently and it remains on the table.”

Howells is also exploring legal options to appeal the judge’s decision, but given the court’s stance on the statute of limitations and the difficulty of locating the hard drive more than a decade later, the path to recovery remains unclear.

*This is not investment advice.