An IT specialist from the UK has failed in a legal attempt to obtain permission to search for a hard drive with cryptocurrency in the Newport municipal landfill, gazeta.ru reports with reference to BBC News.
The story began in 2013, when the girlfriend of 39-year-old James Howells inadvertently threw away a hard drive containing 8000 bitcoins. Today, the value of these digital assets is estimated at approximately 750 million USD.
Finding the disk would require large-scale excavations, processing about 100 thousand tons of garbage.
Howells took Newport to court in late 2024, seeking 495 million pounds sterling in compensation. However, the judge rejected the plaintiff's claims as unfounded, without giving him the opportunity to present his position in detail.
Howells said the decision was made at a preliminary hearing, denying him a chance to get justice.
At the beginning of December 2024, Bitcoin reached a historical high, exceeding the 100 thousand USD mark, but by the end of the month its value dropped to 93 thousand USD.
