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A man who ‘threw away’ a Bitcoin fortune has stepped up his fight to retrieve it – after its value soared to a record high £635million. James Howells, 39, has launched court action against a council that has refused to let him excavate computer equipment needed to unlock his 8,000 Bitcoins.
The costly error a decade ago saw his then partner throw away a black bin bag containing the drive he needed to gain access to his stash. It has since laid in a rubbish tip run by Newport Council in Wales and he has spent years fighting for the right to retrieve it.
And as the price of Bitcoin hit an all-time record high soaring above $102k per unit for the first time – his lost collection is now valued at more than £635million. James appeared in court for the first time this week for the start of legal proceedings he has launched against the council – a move he described as a ‘last resort.’
During the hearing on Monday, a judge at Cardiff High Court heard submissions on a ‘strike out’ application made by the council. James’ legal team claimed he had a team of experts who could go in and retrieve it with no cost to the public purse – while the council argued it would have a ‘negative environmental impact’.
Following the hearing in Cardiff, Judge Keyser KC said he would reserve his decision until a later date. If the council application to ‘strike out’ is not granted it would pave the way for a full two week hearing within the next six months.
James has also pledged to donate ten per cent of proceeds back to the local area – an offer that the council’s legal term accused of being a “bribe” to the council. But speaking before the case, James said the council has continually refused to engage – and had missed the opportunity to turn Newport into the ‘Dubai or Las Vegas’ of the UK.
He said: “Despite being thrown out by my ex partner, which was a mistake and was without my permission or consent, I still own the intellectual digital property located on the hard drive. I am either entitled to recover the property at full cost to myself or if the landowner refuses they it they pay me the value of my property.
“I would much rather say let’s have a conversation and let’s dig and work together amicably – but they don’t want to know. I instigated the court action that should take about three to six months. Should I be successful in defeating the ‘throw out’ application’ I will be proceeding within three to six months with a full two week court case.
“It is crazy money that could do so much good for the area.”
James said he didn’t want to go down the court route – but claimed a lack of engagement from the council left him no choice. If his team are eventually allowed in he said the final haul would be split between expert recovery teams, businesses and investors.
And he also pledged to gift ten per cent to the local community to improve the area. He added: “The council lives in the dark ages. Newport could have looked like Las Vegas or Dubai if they had the foresight to engage. But they did not understand crypto currency and have refused to learn.
“If they had spoken to me back then about investment in crypto the whole area – the whole of South Wales – could have profited from the rise. But they were not intelligent enough or willing to listen to do so. I have continued to try and engage with them and they’ve rejected all communication with us.”
James said he has assembled a strong legal team and experts to fight the case. He added: “In June this year I finally decided to take legal action against Newport Council – this is a last resort. They have continued to ignore my reasonable requests so legal action is the only course I could take.
“The assets are legally owned on their property. I am the owner of those and I have that legal right to retrieve my property. I believe I can do so at no cost or impact to Newport Council – yet they continue to refuse any efforts to engage. I’ve employed a team that have done multiple landfill excavations – all within environmental guidelines.
“We also have AI experts that have the tech to make the job of finding the needle in the haystack that much easier. I can carry out everything at no cost to the public.”
James said although the claim is for around £500M he said all Bitcoin needs to do is hit £125k and it would break through the billion pound barrier. Newport City Council said: “Newport City Council has been contacted multiple times since 2013 about the possibility of retrieving a piece of IT hardware said to be in our landfill site.
“The council has told Mr. Howells multiple times that excavation is not possible under our environmental permit, and that work of that nature would have a huge negative environmental impact on the surrounding area. The council is the only body authorised to carry out operations on the site.
“Mr. Howells’s claim has no merit, and the council is vigorously resisting it.”
