A Welsh computer engineer, James Howells, is pursuing the purchase of a landfill site in South Wales, believing it to be the resting place of a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoins, valued at £620 million ($1.2 billion). The hard drive was mistakenly thrown out by his former girlfriend in 2013. Following a failed legal attempt to access the site or obtain £495 million in compensation from Newport County Council, Howell’s focus has shifted to acquiring the landfill outright. The council plans to close the site next year to transition it into a solar farm, despite previously arguing that allowing Howells to search the land would negatively affect local residents.
Howells expressed surprise at the council’s expedited plans for closure, given their previous stance in court. Searching through the 1.4 million tonnes of waste seems daunting; however, he believes the hard drive might be located within a 100,000-tonne section. Howell’s discussions with investment partners have left the potential purchase “very much on the table,” and he intends to appeal the court’s dismissal of his case against the council. This unique situation exemplifies the sometimes unpredictable and volatile nature of cryptocurrency, with Bitcoin leading the realm as the oldest and most significant digital currency.