The Lost Bitcoins
A computer expert who accidentally threw away his bitcoin fortune says he has been told its value could climb to a staggering £1.5 billion – and he is now fighting a court battle to get it back.
James Howells, 38, made the costly mistake ten years ago, when his partner mistakenly threw out a black bin bag. Inside the bag was a hard drive that was the only way to access his stash of cryptocurrency. He has been trying to recover the drive from the council landfill ever since and has now taken legal steps to get permission to search the site.
Adding to the pain, James says he has watched the value of his lost 8,000 coins rise by almost 40 percent in the last month alone – meaning they are now worth over £450 million. He told MailOnline: “Some experts believe that by the end of the year the price will rise to $25,000 a coin. That would make my hard drive worth £1.5 billion. The council may be happy to leave it in a landfill, but I am not. They want me to walk away and forget about it, but how could anyone? Why should I back down? All I want is a chance to get my property back.”
Distraught, James explained that there were two identical hard drives in his office and he mistakenly packed the wrong one before it was thrown out. The life-changing mistake happened ten years ago, when he put the hard drive containing his bitcoin wallet into a black bag during an office clear-out and left it in the hallway of his home.
He planned to put them in his car and take them to the tip on his way to work, after checking them. But he never got round to it, because his former partner, who got up before him, saw the items and decided to help by taking them to the landfill. She thought she was helping James, with no idea what was inside. When he realised what had happened, James knew a mistake had been made, and has been trying to get it back ever since, with the backing of investors.
The bitcoin wallet and the computer parts ended up at a landfill run by Newport City Council, and James is now fighting in court to get them back. He thought he could simply ask for his things back, saying: “I immediately thought I would go and ask 'can I have my property back'.” But the council would not let him.
James’s legal battle against the council is being funded by a group of hedge fund investors who will take a share of the value if the bitcoin is successfully found. His backers have assembled a team of search experts and data recovery engineers in the hope of finding the hard drive and getting it working again.
They are also paying for his legal team, which includes a lawyer from London who represents him in the High Court. James had previously offered to share the proceeds of a successful recovery with Newport Council if they granted permission, but that came to nothing. James said his team is seeking a court injunction barring others from digging on the land, as well as compensation for the full valuation of the bitcoin – now worth over £350 million.
