British man requests permission to scavenge trash to find $500 million in Bitcoin

The IT engineer from Newport, Wales, hasn't given up on his Bitcoin fortune just yet. He is now pursuing legal avenues as a last resort as he digs through piles of trash to find his lost stash.

According to reports wales onlineJames Howells is currently suing Newport City Council over access to the local landfill, seeking damages of £495 million, the highest value of lost Bitcoin. He believes coins from the Satoshi era can still be recovered somewhere within the facility, along with a large amount of trash.

One person's trash can be another person's treasure. But in this case, Howell's hard drive, which was scrapped in August 2013, is now a £401 million ($524 million) headache, and one that's growing more painful over time. .

When Howells' partners accidentally dumped 8,000 bitcoins more than a decade ago, the assets traded for about $130. It is currently trading at around $66,000 per coin.

Mr Howells' repeated efforts to offer Newport City Council 10 per cent of the value recovered from the systematic excavation, estimated to cost around £10 million, were rejected. Mr Howells said the excavation would cost the council nothing but his efforts had been “largely ignored” and the impasse was headed to court in December.

At one point, Howell provided The city council paid £52.5 million ($71.6 million) for access to the site. However, an offer to support the City of Newport's COVID-19 Relief Fund was denied in 2021.

The IT engineer said: wales online He said his finances were “not in the best shape” and were struggling as legal issues developed. Howells added that he is willing to take the fight all the way to the Supreme Court as a last resort if possible.

Mr Howells reportedly gave up his life as an IT engineer and reached an agreement with investors to recover his lost fortune. Under the agreement, 70% of the value of the recovered funds will be donated to his supporters, as well as the recovery team and Newport City Council.

IT engineers continue to be involved in the debate surrounding Bitcoin development. In May he highlighted Bitcoin Cash's so-called adaptive block size.

In 2020, blockchain analytics company Chainaracy Estimation 3.7 million Bitcoins were lost over time, which is a significant portion of the 21 million Bitcoins that will be mined in the future. However, it's difficult to determine how much of that is due to user error or just plain bad luck.

Newport has reportedly pointed to environmental permits and reiterated that drilling is not possible. The council insists it is the only body with authority over the landfill site because of the potential negative impact it could have on the local environment.

howell recognized Even in 2021, as time passes, the chances of a lost hard drive remaining physically intact have significantly decreased. But IT engineers remain confident enough to keep pushing shovels in the dirt.

in a statement to decryptionMr Howells said legal action was a last resort, claiming he had “no other choice” because the city council refused to engage in dialogue “in good faith”.

“Over the years, I have tried to engage Newport City Council in every possible way and tried everything I could to avoid litigation,” he said. “It's a shame we had to resort to that.”

Edited by Andrew Hayward

Editor's note: This article has been updated to include comments and clarification from Howells.