The Lost Bitcoin Hard Drive Saga: Lawsuit for $646 Million

[TomPluz]

A man is suing Newport Council for nearly 500 million pounds to recover 8,000 Bitcoin (BTC), which he claims he lost due to a mix-up that led to his hard drive being disposed of at a recycling center in 2013.

James Howells has filed the lawsuit as a “last resort” after more than ten years of what he describes as being “largely ignored” by the council.

The multi-million pound lawsuit is aimed at leveraging the council into allowing an excavation, not seeking damages. Howells is seeking just under half a billion pounds, which translates to $646.4 million. This represents the highest valuation of his Bitcoin holdings from earlier in the year when the cryptocurrency hit an all-time high (ATH) price of $73,737.

The 39-year-old has assembled a team of experts willing to conduct a £10 million ($13 million) excavation at no cost to the council. He is also offering to share 10% of the recovered coins’ value, which he estimates could reach around $53.5 million based on current prices.

More of this interesting story here.

James Howells is now one of the most famous in the world of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency as far as losing his coins can be concerned, with around 8000 Bitcoin lost in a hard drive which he accidentally thrown to the garbage back in 2013. Now, the value of those coins can run into multiple millions and the man is seeking all the possible ways so he can dig the dump and look for that treasured drive but the Newport's city council has continuously denied his request.

More than 10 years, this saga is still captivating many people. Do you think James Howells will one day success in his quest for the drive? Or do you think that this is just another hopeless case and that he should move on?

[ABCbits]

Just like recent faketoshi lawsuit, i can't believe this case isn't over yet. IMO it's not only hopeless case, but also example of sunk cost fallacy in real life. If he spend his money and effort to re-buy or re-mine Bitcoin soon after he found out his HDD got discard, he could be a millionaire or even billionaire by now.

[bitterguy28]

More than 10 years, this saga is still captivating many people. Do you think James Howells will one day success in his quest for the drive? Or do you think that this is just another hopeless case and that he should move on?

honestly i did not even think his battle would last this long but it seems like experts are still very much willing to fight alongside him so i am guessing someday he will get at least a portion of what he is demanding but i do not think the council will give the exact amount of what he wants

i respect his resilience but the story is a tad bit confusing he was the one who lost his hard drive and then it got complicated from there because of the council’s and the landfill involvement it seems pretty cut out from the start that what he lost has nothing to do with the council but they seem to be fighting about something more than that now

[TomPluz]

Just like recent faketoshi lawsuit, i can't believe this case isn't over yet. IMO it's not only hopeless case, but also example of sunk cost fallacy in real life. If he spend his money and effort to re-buy or re-mine Bitcoin soon after he found out his HDD got discard, he could be a millionaire or even billionaire by now.

James Howells is not so willing to give up what could have been millions worth of richness had he not used his stupidity at the beginning. After more than 10 years, he still fighting for his dream and that is recovering the hard drive. For his strong will after so many years, I am giving him 10 points. Now, in case he will not get succeed on this latest move, I am sure he would be thinking of finally moving on. Anyway, James might be content to know that his name and story has now been part of Bitcoin's colorful and amazing history.

[Lucius]

It should be said that JH didn't throw the HDD in the trash, his girlfriend/wife did it - but only because he valued BTC so much (at that time) that he kept that HDD in a drawer in an easily accessible place.

However, when it comes to the lawsuit, I think he has almost no chance of getting any compensation because he can't prove that he mined BTC at all, let alone that the HDD with the private keys ended up in the trash at the exact designated landfill.

Even if by some miracle he found that HDD, after so many years it is very likely that he would not be able to save anything or most of the data.

[MrSpasybo]

James Howells is now one of the most famous in the world of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency as far as losing his coins can be concerned, with around 8000 Bitcoin lost in a hard drive which he accidentally thrown to the garbage back in 2013. Now, the value of those coins can run into multiple millions and the man is seeking all the possible ways so he can dig the dump and look for that treasured drive but the Newport's city council has continuously denied his request.

More than 10 years, this saga is still captivating many people. Do you think James Howells will one day success in his quest for the drive? Or do you think that this is just another hopeless case and that he should move on?

The story of this man and the thousands of BTC buried under tons of garbage has been famous for a long time, but we haven't been able to get a happy ending for James Howells. The city council also finds it difficult to allow him and others to access the huge landfill because they are unsure whether the hard drive containing thousands of BTC is actually there and whether this permission could pose any risks to the city...

On the bright side: we have thousands of BTC permanently out of circulation and the scarcity of BTC is increasing. If James cannot access his BTC, it will be a donation and value sharing to all BTC investors worldwide.

[robelneo]

I became aware of this case some years ago and was surprised that the guy is still battling to have it retrieved, and why not 8000 Bitcoin is a fortune that keeps growing, The legal battle is ugly and it could drag on for many years more, since the value keeps growing; they should instead negotiate to just divide the Bitcoin.
Its a win win situation for them, and if they agree to divide, they can come up with a better and faster solution to have it retrieved.

[Z-tight]

I've heard the name James Howells for as long as i have known BTC, i just cannot understand why the guy does not want to give up on this, the loss is crazy, but he will drive himself crazy in his quest to find this missing hard drive. How does he even think he will be able the get the data from that hard drive even if he finds it, this lawsuit can't go in his favor and it is so obvious.

[Zed0X]

No cost with the potential of earning 10% of the total coins value looks like a great deal but has anyone successfully excavated without the environmental dangers? I think the council has a stronger argument that it is not his hard drive anymore after it has been dumped in the landfill.

[Captain Corporate]

Not being able to move on when the possibility of half a billion dollars of your money is out there somewhere and there could be something you could do to get that money is understandable. This dude thinks, if he could work hard enough, and convince the right people, there is a possible way of him to retrieve this money back somehow. However, there is a possibility of this money being completely gone, and there is a HUGE possibility that not the chances are high. Even if the council allows him, and the team does all the work to take out everything, he will probably not find it anymore. I feel like him giving up would be the best thing for his mental, but I fear giving up is not something his mind can do when the discussion is about half a billion dollars.

[PrivateKayla]

It should be said that JH didn't throw the HDD in the trash, his girlfriend/wife did it - but only because he valued BTC so much (at that time) that he kept that HDD in a drawer in an easily accessible place.

It's obvious he still values (loves!) it until now. Can't really blame him as the value of those Bitcoins is almost half a billion pounds. The reality is, how sure is he that the hard drive is still working after all these years? If by some miracle, the council approves the excavation and he finds the hard drive but it's corrupted, how can he pay the excavation cost? He's even willing to give away 10% of the value. But all this is based on IF he gets the hard drive.

[ABCbits]

--snip--
Anyway, James might be content to know that his name and story has now been part of Bitcoin's colorful and amazing history.

Or rather, part of Bitcoin dark and painful history along with hacked incident or other losing access to Bitcoin without backup .

I became aware of this case some years ago and was surprised that the guy is still battling to have it retrieved, and why not 8000 Bitcoin is a fortune that keeps growing, The legal battle is ugly and it could drag on for many years more, since the value keeps growing; they should instead negotiate to just divide the Bitcoin.
Its a win win situation for them, and if they agree to divide, they can come up with a better and faster solution to have it retrieved.

It's only win win, under unrealistic assumption the hard drive is in good condition to perform data recovery. In addition, i don't remember whether he encrypt his wallet/private key.

[Lucius]

No cost with the potential of earning 10% of the total coins value looks like a great deal but has anyone successfully excavated without the environmental dangers? I think the council has a stronger argument that it is not his hard drive anymore after it has been dumped in the landfill.

The council has always claimed that digging up such a large amount of garbage is dangerous for people's health and the environment, and I don't think that even a 50% possible reward can dissuade them from that attitude. I don't know if legally that HDD is still owned by JH, but in my opinion, if it ended up in the trash and is on an area controlled by the city, then they should be the owners of everything there.

It's obvious he still values (loves!) it until now. Can't really blame him as the value of those Bitcoins is almost half a billion pounds. The reality is, how sure is he that the hard drive is still working after all these years? If by some miracle, the council approves the excavation and he finds the hard drive but it's corrupted, how can he pay the excavation cost? He's even willing to give away 10% of the value. But all this is based on IF he gets the hard drive.

There is no guarantee that after so many years the data from the HDD can be saved, anyone who says otherwise is just guessing. My assumption is that JH will not give up, and the only chance he has is for the people blocking the request to leave the council and for others to come who would be more inclined to his proposal.

It's strange to me that JH has not been more involved in lobbying and trying to influence members of the council personally, and even that he personally became active and maybe became a member of the same council.

[Faisal2202]

James Howells is now one of the most famous in the world of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency as far as losing his coins can be concerned, with around 8000 Bitcoin lost in a hard drive which he accidentally thrown to the garbage back in 2013. Now, the value of those coins can run into multiple millions and the man is seeking all the possible ways so he can dig the dump and look for that treasured drive but the Newport's city council has continuously denied his request.

More than 10 years, this saga is still captivating many people. Do you think James Howells will one day success in his quest for the drive? Or do you think that this is just another hopeless case and that he should move on?

The money he lost is too much, and I think he will never stop his efforts to recover the lost hard drive if it even exists in the dump anymore. I doubt the drive is still there because he definitely has no inner links with the council because if he had any, then till now his searching team would have gathered all the hard drives from the dump.

Maybe someone rich has already collected the drives from the dump but the thing is, even if the chase of finding the hard drive ends and he finds it at last, what if the drive is damaged to a level where it can't be recovered anymore, It will really hurt his feelings. I hope he wins the case and finds the drive and is even able to recover the funds because 8K won't impact the market, so I don't care.

[Lucius]

~snip~
Maybe someone rich has already collected the drives from the dump...

No one found the HDD because JH luckily did not lose his address and claims that all the coins are still there. If by any chance it was different, then all his efforts to find the HDD would be pointless.