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Man who lost bitcoin fortune in Welsh tip explores purchase of entire landfill (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 4 months ago by Emperor@feddit.uk to c/unitedkingdom@feddit.uk

13 comments fedilink hide all child comments

A computer expert who has battled for a decade to recover a £600m bitcoin fortune he believes is buried in a council dump in south Wales is considering buying the site so he can hunt for the missing fortune.

James Howells lost a high court case last month to force Newport city council to allow him to search the tip to retrieve a hard drive he says contains the bitcoins.

The council has since announced plans to close and cap the site, which would almost certainly spell the end of any lingering hopes of reaching the bitcoins. The authority has secured planning permission for a solar farm on part of the land.

Howells, 39, said on Monday it had been “quite a surprise” to hear of the closure plan. He said: “It [the council] claimed at the high court that closing the landfill to allow me to search would have a huge detrimental impact on the people of Newport, whilst at the same time they were planning to close the landfill anyway.

“I expected it would be closed in the coming years because it’s 80/90% full – but didn’t expect its closure so soon. If Newport city council would be willing, I would potentially be interested in purchasing the landfill site ‘as is’ and have discussed this option with investment partners and it is something that is very much on the table.”

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[–] Horse@lemmygrad.ml 10 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

there is no chance that hard drive is even intact after a decade in a landfill

so he spends an unhinged amount of money to dig around in rotting garbage to find the remains of a drive that won't even have his internet funny money on it