James Howells, 39, even appealed to Donald Trump to lend a hand in the search, although it seems his attempts to recover the fortune has reached its conclusion
00:40, 16 Jan 2025Updated 00:48, 16 Jan 2025
James Howells would become one of Britain’s richest men were he to find the crypto treasure
Ever stuffed a tenner into your pocket only to find hours later its gone AWOL? Well, times that feeling by a factor of 60 million and you’d probably arrive close to the mood of arguably Britain’s unluckiest man.
Thats because James Howells, who accidentally tossed a digital hard-drive containing £100 millions of Bitcoin into the rubbish, has had his case to retrieve it thrown out by a judge, causing the unlucky crypto enthusiast to admit it’s “game over”
James, 39, says he’s “gutted” after Cardiff High Court threw out his bid to dig through a landfill site to find a hard drive holding the key to a £635M crypto jackpot. The IT worker had been battling Newport City Council for years, hoping to recover the treasure trove of 8,000 Bitcoins.
Back in 2013, James’s ex accidentally chucked out the hard drive, not realising it contained the digital key to his riches. Ever since, it’s been buried deep in a Newport tip, with James launching a full-blown campaign to retrieve it.
James Howells mined the Bitcoin back in 2009
But last week, his dreams were dashed when Judge Keyser KC struck down his case, saying it had “no realistic prospect” of succeeding. Now, James says he’s been left stuck with the knowledge of what he could have had “for life”.
“The council’s decision feels like a kick in the teeth,” he said. “It’s gut-wrenching, to be honest. I always thought I’d at least get a proper trial, but instead, it was dismissed at the first hurdle. I didn’t even get to speak.”
James had promised to cover all costs of the dig and even pledged 10% of the proceeds – a whopping £63M – to the local community. But the council argued the excavation would have a huge environmental impact and accused him of trying to “bribe” them.
“I understand the environmental concerns,” James admitted, “but they could be managed professionally. This isn’t just about money; it’s about doing something incredible for the area. Newport could have been the Dubai or Las Vegas of the UK.”
The council claimed it would be too damaging to dig up the site
Now, the tech enthusiast is facing an uncertain future. “I’ll never stop thinking about it,” he said. “Bitcoin’s only going up, and when it hits £500K a coin, those 8,000 Bitcoins will be worth billions. Maybe then, someone will let me dig it up.”
Newport City Council has repeatedly refused to budge, insisting excavation isn’t possible due to environmental regulations. But James isn’t giving up entirely. Half-joking, he even appealed to Donald Trump to step in, saying, “I’d cut him in on the deal if he made it happen.”
For now, though, the dream remains buried, and James says he’ll spend the rest of his life wondering what might have been.