A High Court judge has dismissed James Howells’ legal effort to recover a hard drive containing access to Bitcoin worth £600 million ($739 million).

The decision, handed down by Judge Andrew John Keyser KC, marks the end of a long-standing legal battle between Howells and Newport City Council over access to a landfill site in South Wales.

Court Denies James Howell’s Claim on £600M Bitcoin

An early investor in Bitcoin, James Howells, said that he threw away a hard drive with 7,500 BTC in it in 2013. The council countered that once the hard drive was in the landfill, it became the property of the council under the current disposal of waste laws. The court also heard that environmental permits did not allow digging the landfill to extract the device.

According to the BBC report, Judge Keyser KC has dismissed Howells’ lawsuit stating that there are no reasonable grounds for the claim and there is no reasonable likelihood of success at trial. In the written judgment, the judge said that there was no good reason why the claim should be permitted to continue.

Howells had several times presented Newport City Council with a piece of the Bitcoin, which he estimated could be worth over £1 billion ($1.2 billion) by 2026 if the council helped him access the hard drive.

Environmental Concerns Block Landfill Access

Newport City Council told the court that James Howell should not be allowed to use the landfill because it would be against the law. The landfill, which contains over 1.4 million tonnes of waste, cannot be excavated under the current permit.

James Howells said that the search had been concentrated on an area that contained 100,000 tonnes of waste, where the hard drive was last known to be. However, the council argued that just trying to get the hard drive back could also be dangerous to the environment.

The council’s legal representative, James Goudie KC, stated that the planned excavation would make the council have to “play fast and loose” with the environmental laws. The court supported the council arguing that a set of waste management legislation was more significant than Howells’ rights to the lost device.

Bitcoin’s Value Adds Complexity

James Howell bought the 7,500 BTC in 2009 when the currency was not very valuable. Since then, the value of Bitcoin has increased, and in recent years, it has touched historical market values. Between 2024 alone, the price of Bitcoin rose by over 80%, and Howells felt that he had to act faster and renewed the efforts to get his BTC back.

At the time of the decision of the court, Bitcoin’s price was standing at nearly $95,000, thus making the lost wallet one of the most valuable single ownership of Bitcoins. Howells said that the lost funds could be a life-changing amount of money, but he could not retrieve the hard drive due to legal and regulatory restraints.

However, Howells had said earlier that he was ready to wheel his case to the UK Supreme Court. However, with the dismissal of the claim, it is quite difficult for him to recover the lost Bitcoin.

The James Howell case has drawn attention to the broader issue of lost Bitcoin and its potential effect on the cryptocurrency market. In a separate case, the United States government recently liquidated 69,370 BTC, worth $6.7 billion, seized from the Silk Road marketplace.

Bitcoin’s volatility has also been highlighted, as the digital asset briefly fell below $93,000 following the recent liquidation.

✓ Share:

Kelvin Munene Murithi

Kelvin is a distinguished writer with expertise in crypto and finance, holding a Bachelor’s degree in Actuarial Science. Known for his incisive analysis and insightful content, he possesses a strong command of English and excels in conducting thorough research and delivering timely cryptocurrency market updates.

Disclaimer: The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.