Man who lost Bitcoin Fortune in Welsh Tip explores the purchase of the entire deposit | Bitcoin

A computer expert who has been fighting for a decade to recover a Bitcoin wealth of £ 600 million, he believes is buried in a rotten dump in South Wales considering buying the place so he can hunt for the lack of fortune.

James Howells lost a Supreme Court case last month to force Newport City Council to allow him to search the tip to pick up a hard drive, he says, contains Bitcoins.

The Council has since announced plans to close and hood the place, which would almost certainly spell the end of any lingering hope of reaching Bitcoins. The authority has secured a planning permit for a solar farm on part of the land.

Howells, 39, said Monday that it had been “quite a surprise” to hear about the closure plan. He said: “It claimed at High Court that closing the landfill to allow me to seek would have a tremendously detrimental influence on the people of Newport, while still planning to close the landfill.

“I expected it would be closed in the coming years because it is 80/90% full – but did not expect its closure as soon as. If Newport City Council would be willing, I would potentially be interested in buying the landfill ‘as it is’ and has discussed this opportunity with investment partners and that is something that is very much on the table. ‘

When he appeared in the Cardiff Civil Justice Center, represented by lawyers who worked Pro Bono, Howells described how in 2013 he accidentally put the hard drive containing his Bitcoin design book in a black bag under an office. of his house. His then partner is said to have confused the bag for garbage and taken it with her on a trip to the dump where it has been lost.

Howells quickly realized the mistake and has ever since asked the council to help him pick up the hard drive, even offering to share the money with the authority, to no avail.

The Council has resisted Howells’ attempts to allow him to search, and insisted that the hard drive had become its property when it entered the landfill.

When he sat as a Supreme Court judge, Judge Keyser KC said in January that he accepted the council’s argument that Howells had no right to try to pick it up.

Newport City Council refused to comment.