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James Howells said a hard drive containing the private key to his Bitcoin was mistakenly thrown away and taken to Docksway Landfill in Newport, Wales, in 2013. He sued the landfill’s owner and operator, Newport City Council, seeking access to search for the drive or compensation. On 9 January 2025, the High Court dismissed his claim.
What happened to the Bitcoin hard drive?
Howells, a Newport computer engineer, said the drive containing the private key to his Bitcoin was accidentally discarded in August 2013 and ended up at Docksway Landfill. The drive’s location has not been independently confirmed, and the sources do not report that it was recovered.
A private key is the information needed to authorize transactions from a cryptocurrency wallet. Losing the device that holds or stores access to a key can make the associated Bitcoin inaccessible, but the case did not establish that the drive could still be found or that its contents could be recovered.
Why did Howells sue Newport City Council?
Newport City Council owns and operates Docksway Landfill. Howells’s claim sought delivery of the drive or permission for experts to excavate and search the site, with compensation pleaded as an alternative, according to the case summary and contemporary reporting (BAILII case listing; The Independent, 9 January 2025).
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The dispute concerned access to the landfill or compensation. It did not establish the Bitcoin’s ownership, a recoverable balance, or a court-approved value for the coins.
What did the High Court decide?
In Howells v Newport City Council [2025] EWHC 22 (Ch), the High Court dismissed the claim on 9 January 2025. The Independent reported Judge Keyser KC’s conclusion that the particulars of claim showed no reasonable grounds and that the claim had no realistic prospect of succeeding at trial. That ruling resolved the proceeding described here; it should not be read as a determination of every possible future legal avenue.
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How much was the Bitcoin said to be worth?
News reports gave different estimates at different dates. Neither figure is a current valuation or proof that the coins could be recovered.
| Report | Reported amount and value | What the figure means |
|---|---|---|
| The Independent, 9 January 2025 | Estimated £598 million | A dated estimate of the Bitcoin’s value in that report (The Independent). |
| BBC News, 7 August 2025 | 8,000 Bitcoin; estimated £695 million | The BBC described the wallet as holding 8,000 Bitcoin and estimated its value at £695 million at the time. The amount is associated with Howells’s reported wallet, not an independently verified recoverable balance (BBC News). |
| BBC News, 7 August 2025 | £495 million | The compensation claim amount reported by the BBC; it is distinct from the changing market estimate of the Bitcoin. |
What happened after the ruling?
The later reports describe proposals and statements, not confirmed outcomes. On 11 February 2025, The Independent reported that Howells was considering buying the landfill after the council announced plans to close it during the 2025–26 financial year and convert it to a solar farm. The report does not establish that a sale or redevelopment occurred.
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On 7 August 2025, the BBC reported that Howells had given up trying to retrieve the wallet and planned to pursue a new cryptocurrency project, Ceiniog Coin. The BBC also reported that Newport City Council said just under £117,000 in legal costs was owed and that it would not spend further officers’ time on the issue until payment was made. Those are statements reported at that time, not confirmation of later events.
As of the latest dated reporting cited here, there is no verified outcome for whether the landfill closed or was redeveloped, whether Howells bought it, whether the reported legal costs were paid, or whether he pursued another legal step. The latest located status report is the BBC’s 7 August 2025 account; it does not establish what happened after that date.
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