Man hunting £569m bitcoin fortune in rubbish dump suffers huge blow after court ruling
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A man who claims his ex-girlfriend chucked out a hard drive containing a £569million Bitcoin fortune has lost a legal bid to recover it from a rubbish dump. Father-of-three James Howells, 39, claimed the drive containing 8,000 of the crypto coins, was accidentally thrown into a tip in South Wales more than 10 years ago. The 39-year-old demanded Newport City Council hand him legal access to excavate the landfill site or £495m in compensation.
However, a judge at the High Court in Cardiff today threw out the claim, ruling there was 'no realistic prospect' of its success. Backing the council's application to strike out the writ, Judge Keyser KC said there were no 'reasonable grounds' for bringing the claim. Mr Howells, whose legal action was funded by an American hedge fund, claims the hard drive containing his Bitcoin wallet was left in a black bag in the hall of his house.
He claimed his then-partner mistook the bag for rubbish and threw it in the dump in 2013, where it remains. Mr Howells said he had asked permission from Newport City Council to search the site offering it a 10% share of the cryptocurrency spoils - but was repeatedly rebuffed.
His legal team, made up of lawyers representing the alleged victims of Mohamed Al-Fayed, sued Newport City Council for the value of the bitcoin, which rose substantially after the drive was thrown away. The value of the Bitcoin rose by more than 80% in 2024.
But in a ruling today, the High Court dismissed the claim and said there were no "reasonable grounds for bringing this case". Judge Keyser concluded: "I also consider that the claim would have no realistic prospect of succeeding if it went to trial and that there is no other compelling reason why it should be disposed of at trial. There will be judgement for the defendant and the claim will be dismissed.'".
