James Howells says a hard drive containing the key to his Bitcoin wallet was accidentally thrown away in 2013 and taken to a landfill in Newport, Wales. The often-cited $275 million figure was a January 2021 estimate, not a current valuation. In January 2025, the High Court dismissed Howells’s claim against Newport City Council—but it did not decide whether the discarded drive actually held his Bitcoin.
What happened to the Bitcoin hard drive?
Howells told the court that he mined 8,000 Bitcoin in early 2009 and stored a wallet file, called wallet.dat, on an internal 2.5-inch laptop hard drive. He said he mistook the drive for a blank one while clearing his home office in August 2013. His partner then took bags of discarded items to Docksway Landfill, a council-run site in Newport, Wales.
Those details were allegations in Howells’s case, not findings after a trial. For the council’s application to end the claim, the judge assumed the pleaded facts without deciding whether they were true. The judgment does not establish that the drive was deposited at the landfill or that it contained the wallet key.
Why is the story often described as $275 million?
The $275 million headline traces to a Futurism report published on January 19, 2021. That article described Howells as believing the drive held about 7,500 Bitcoin, valued at roughly $275 million at prices reported at the time. The later court claim was framed as 8,000 Bitcoin, and the judgment said Howells asserted they were worth more than £600 million during the 2024–25 proceedings. These are dated estimates or claimed values, not a fixed or current price. Futurism’s 2021 report and the High Court judgment give the figures in their respective contexts.
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What did the High Court decide?
On January 9, 2025, Judge Keyser KC dismissed the claim, finding that it had no reasonable grounds and no realistic prospect of succeeding at trial. Howells had sought declarations that he owned the drive and its contents, delivery of the drive or permission to excavate the site, and compensation. Newport City Council applied to strike out the case or obtain summary judgment.
The case concerned legal claims about the physical hard drive and access to it. It was not a trial to establish whether the Bitcoin existed in the wallet, whether the private key was on the drive, or who owned the Bitcoin. The judge explained that Bitcoin could not be physically “on” a hard drive or located in the landfill in the way the drive could. The judgment’s discussion of Bitcoin’s legal character was part of its analysis of the claims before it, not a finding that the wallet or Bitcoin had been recovered or did not exist. Read the written judgment for the court’s reasoning; ITV News Wales reported the dismissal on the day it was handed down.
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Why was excavation not allowed?
Howells sought access to the landfill to search for the drive. The council opposed excavation on environmental and safety grounds, citing its permit, the need for regulatory approval, and the disruption excavation could cause to waste operations. The court record describes the site as an active facility with around 350,000 tonnes of waste and a further 50,000 tonnes added annually, figures presented in evidence before the court rather than a current site audit. The waste was described as covered with inert material and compacted.
The proposed search also depended on finding the correct drive and recovering usable data from it. The court did not establish that excavation would locate the device or restore access to the wallet. No excavation or recovery is established by the judgment.
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How did the dispute reach court?
- Early 2009: Howells alleged that he mined 8,000 Bitcoin.
- August 2013: He said the hard drive was mistakenly discarded and taken to Docksway Landfill.
- November 2013: He first met a council representative to discuss access to the drive and made later requests.
- May 17, 2024: He issued his claim against Newport City Council.
- December 3, 2024: The High Court heard the council’s application to strike out the case or obtain summary judgment.
- January 9, 2025: The court dismissed the claim.
The judgment also considered the effect of waste-disposal law and the time elapsed before proceedings began. Ars Technica’s report on the judgment describes the court’s six-year limitation analysis: Howells knew the material facts by November 2013 but did not issue proceedings until May 2024. The legal reasoning is set out in the judgment itself; Ars Technica summarized the ruling.
Can Howells still dig up the hard drive?
The January 2025 ruling dismissed this claim, including the requested route to excavation. The sources cited here do not establish whether there was a later appeal or a change in Howells’s plans, so the ruling should not be taken as proof that no later legal development occurred. It also does not establish that the drive has been found or that its data can be recovered.
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What can Bitcoin owners learn from the story?
A wallet file and the information needed to access it should not depend on one physical device. Keeping a separate, secure backup of important files can reduce the risk of losing access if a computer or drive is discarded, damaged, or fails. A backup is not a guarantee of cryptocurrency recovery: the owner still needs to protect the relevant keys and ensure the backup remains usable and secure.
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