A man who threw away $750 million worth of Bitcoin with the trash has accepted for the first time it is ‘game over’ – after a judge threw out his bid to dig it up.
James Howells has described his lost legal bid to recover the fortune as ‘gut-wrenching’ and said he will spend the rest of his life wondering what might have been.
The 39-year-old had launched court action against a council that refused to let him excavate computer equipment needed to unlock his 8,000 Bitcoins — currently worth around $750 million.
The costly error a decade ago saw his then partner throw away a black bin bag containing the drive he needed to gain access to his stash.
It has since laid in a rubbish tip run by Newport Council in Wales and he has spent years fighting for the right to retrieve it.
Last week a judge at Cardiff High Court threw out his legal bid to go in and retrieve it.
And reflecting on the verdict, James said he was having to face reality that it is ‘game over’ in his long battle.
He said: “I am honestly so disappointed — I thought at the very least I deserved to have my full say in court with a full trial with all details put onto the centre stage.
“I thought at least I’d get an opportunity in court but all we got was a one day hearing where I did not even get to speak in any way.
“The case has been thrown out at the first hurdle and swept under the carpet to protect the local council.
“It was always going to be a difficult uphill struggle. I believe in my case but I did not think there would be any chance of fairness.
“Unless someone has a change of mind it is a dead stick — game over. The fat lady is singing. The council own the land, they own the permission and they have the power to change if they want to.
“I understand the environmental concerns and they are all valid. But they could be overcome and I would do everything to ensure they are. I have always been fully committed to deal with that in the most professional manner possible.
“It feels like the end of the world for me. I am now stuck with it and can not escape it. I am stuck with it for life.
“Everyone can see it is still there and it is not going anywhere. Bitcoin is only going to go up. It is around $125K today. When it reaches $615K and the coins are worth billions maybe then someone will come asking me if I want to do the dig. “
In December last year, Newport Council asked a High Court judge to strike out his legal action to either access the landfill or get $605,194,425 in compensation.
Judge Keyser KC said there were no “reasonable grounds” for bringing the claim and “no realistic prospect” of succeeding at a full trial.
And James said one omission from the judge had been ‘extra painful’ as he refused to acknowledge him as the owner of the coins – taking away the option to ‘tokenize’ them in the future.
He added: “The coins have never moved. It would become like a vault where the gold is stored and I would create a new asset in order to trade in public.
“The value of the new crypto would be linked to the wallet address forever. I was hoping to salvage something from this. Using tokenisation to turn to the coins into a new asset.
“Unfortunately the judge refused to grant me ownership of the bitcoins as part of the order.
“Newport District Council own the physical hard drive but they don’t own the Bitcoins. But the judge didn’t say in his ruling ‘James Howells owns the Bitcoin’ which was the stance originally agreed even with the council.
“That would have given me some hope for the future — a small glimmer of hope that although I could not do the dig I could re-focus and work on the tokenisation project. The judge just ripped all that out.
“It was gut-wrenching to be honest.”
James said he has now got 21 days to appeal but would have to ask the same judge for permission to do so and would need a sound legal argument.
He added: “So it is game over. I’ve not given up and will never surrender but it is looking pretty bleak.
“I don’t know what else to do. Maybe Donald Trump could help make something happen. I would certainly cut Trump in on the deal if he could help.
“I am appealing to him and anyone else who can help sort this madness. I’m half joking of course but it would be great if he did.”
James had assembled a legal team of experts who claimed they could go in and retrieve it with no cost to the public purse — while the council argued it would have a ‘negative environmental impact’.
If the council’s ‘strike out’ application had not been approved it would have paved the way for a full two week hearing within the next six months.
James had also pledged to donate ten percent of proceeds back to the local area – an offer that the council’s legal team had accused of being a “bribe” to the council.
James said over the years the council has continually refused to engage – and had missed the opportunity to turn Newport into the ‘Dubai or Las Vegas’ of the UK.
He said: “Despite being thrown out by my ex partner, which was a mistake and was without my permission or consent, I still own the intellectual digital property located on the hard drive.
“I feel I was either entitled to recover the property at full cost to myself or if the landowner refuses they it they should pay me the value of my property.
“I would much rather say let’s have a conversation and let’s dig and work together amicably — but they don’t want to know.
“It is crazy money that could do so much good for the area.”
James said although the claim was for around $615M he said all Bitcoin needs to do is hit $150K and it would break through the billion pound barrier.
Newport City Council said: “Newport City Council has been contacted multiple times since 2013 about the possibility of retrieving a piece of IT hardware said to be in our landfill site.
“The council has told Mr. Howells multiple times that excavation is not possible under our environmental permit, and that work of that nature would have a huge negative environmental impact on the surrounding area.
“The council is the only body authorized to carry out operations on the site.
“Mr. Howells’s claim has no merit, and the council is vigorously resisting it.”
