After 12 years fighting Newport council, the Welsh IT worker’s dream of digging up his lost Bitcoin hard drive dies leaving 8,000 coins buried in a landfill.
James Howells binned a hard drive in 2013 with 8,000 Bitcoin on it. Worth pennies then. Today? $742 million. For over a decade the Newport man battled council red tape and safety fears to excavate the Docks Way landfill. Sophisticated scans, robotic diggers, even £10m profit share offers ... all rejected.
Newport blocked every move, citing toxic risks and ecosystem damage. Howells vowed jail over surrender, but this week the curtain fell. No more appeals.
