Welsh man considering buying land ‘where he dumped $800m worth of Bitcoin’.
A computer engineer who lost $800 million worth of Bitcoin wants to buy a space where he believes he “buried” it.
James Howells, from Newport, Wales, claimed his ex-girlfriend mistakenly removed a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoins in 2013 and dumped it there.
He tried to gain access to the space, or to receive compensation, but his case was dismissed by a judge, the Telegraph reports.
Newport Council said it was not making any further comment on the matter.
Meanwhile, media reports suggest that authorities are planning to close the space in the 2025-26 financial year.
There is already planning permission for a solar farm on the land, which is expected to power the council’s new bin lorries. The landfill is said to hold more than 1.4 million tonnes of waste but Howells believes the hard drive is on the order of 100,000 tonnes.
“I would be potentially interested in buying the landfill site,” he is quoted as saying.
“I have recently discussed this option with investment partners.”
