A computer expert who accidentally threw away his Bitcoin fortune has seen its value rise to £1.5 billion – and has launched a legal battle to get it back.
Early crypto investor James Howells, 38, made the disastrous mistake a decade ago when, due to a misunderstanding, his partner threw away a black garbage bag in which he temporarily stored the hard drive that contained the only access to his crypto assets.
Distraught James has since been trying to retrieve the drive from the council-run dump – and has now taken legal action to gain access to search the dump.
But in cruel fashion, James has now seen the value of his lost 8,000 coins rise by almost 40 percent in the last month alone – meaning they are now worth more than £450 million.
He told MailOnline last night: ‘Some experts believe the price will rise to $25,000 per coin by the end of the year. That would make my hard drive worth £1.5 billion. The municipality might want to leave that in the landfill, but I don’t.
“They want me to go away and forget about it, but how could anyone? Why should I shy away? All I want is a chance to get my property back.”
Computer expert James Howells (pictured), 38, who accidentally threw away his Bitcoin fortune, has seen its value rise to more than £450 million – and has launched a legal battle to get it back
The distraught James has since been trying to retrieve the disc from the municipal dump (landfill in Newport, Wales pictured) – and has taken legal action to gain access to the dump
James’ partner threw away a black garbage bag in which he temporarily stored the hard drive that contained the only access to his crypto assets
A distraught James said there were two identical hard drives in his office and he had accidentally put the wrong one away before throwing it away.
The life-changing mistake a decade ago occurred when he put the hard drive containing his Bitcoin wallet into a black bag during an office visit and left it in the hallway of his home.
He wanted to take trash to the dump, but said he went to bed that night with a nagging feeling that something was wrong.
James said before going to bed, “The last thing he thought was that I was going to check that hard drive in the morning to see if it’s the right one. I went to sleep and didn’t get a chance to check it.
‘I wanted to get up, put them in the car and throw them in the landfill on the way to work, but I wanted to check them first.
‘I didn’t get the chance. My ex-partner had woken up before me and saw them, so he took them in the car and put them in the dump for me.
‘She was doing me a favor, or so she thought, she didn’t know what was in it. She did it for me, but not with my permission.”
When James checked it, he immediately realized the mistake – and has been desperately trying to get it back ever since and is backed by a team of hedge fund investors.
The bitcoin wallet and computer parts have now been lost at the landfill owned by the Labour-run Newport City Council and James has launched High Court proceedings to recover them.
He said: ‘I immediately thought of asking ‘can I get my property back?’ But James’ repeated requests for access have been denied by officials.
James pictured outside the recycling center in Newport, Gwent in Wales
James said there were two identical hard drives in his office and he accidentally packed the wrong one before throwing it away
He said: ‘It’s a bit like when you kick your football over your neighbour’s fence. It’s still your football.
‘I asked for my football back the day it was kicked over the fence. It’s not my fault no one has answered the door for ten years.’
James’ legal battle to battle the council is being funded by a team of hedge fund investors who will take a share of the value if the bitcoin is successfully recovered.
His backers assembled a team of search experts and data recovery engineers in hopes of finding the hard drive and getting it working again.
They also fund his legal team, including a QC in London who represents him at the High Court.
James previously offered to share the proceeds of a successful find with the cash-strapped Labor Council if they agreed, but to no avail.
James said his team was seeking a court order banning anyone else from digging on the land and seeking compensation for the full value of the bitcoin – now worth more than £350 million.
He previously spoke about how he expects any search to work: “I have put together a full consortium of experts in this field to refute all the claims that the council says it has concerns about.
“I spoke with data recovery experts who worked with NASA on the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster.
“They were able to recover from an exploding shuttle and they don’t seem to think being in a landfill will be a problem.”
James’ legal battle to battle the council is being funded by a team of hedge fund investors who will take a share of the value if the bitcoin is successfully recovered.
James previously offered to share the proceeds of a successful find with the cash-strapped Labor Council if they agreed, but to no avail
Newport Council previously said: ‘Since 2013 we have been contacted several times about the possibility of recovering a piece of IT hardware said to contain bitcoins, which may or may not be in our landfill.
‘The council has told Mr Howells on several occasions that excavations are not possible under our environmental permit, and that such work would have a huge negative environmental impact on the surrounding area.
‘We have been very clear and consistent in our responses that we cannot assist Mr Howells in this matter. Our position has not changed. We will not comment further on this matter as it takes up valuable officer time that could be spent delivering services to the residents of Nieuwpoort.”
When asked specifically about his legal claims, a spokesperson said they had no further comment.