Man battling to retrieve misplaced hard drive containing Bitcoin worth over $600 million

IT engineer James Howells from Newport, Wales, says 8,000 Bitcoins were stored on the hard drive which his partner accidentally threw out

A man is battling to retrieve a misplaced hard drive containing Bitcoin currently now worth over $600 million.

We've all misplaced our keys, lost our wallet or forgotten where we put our coat, but for James Howells, when his hard drive went missing back in 2013, it was far more serious a concern.

The IT engineer, from Newport, Wales, says 8,000 Bitcoins were stored on the hard drive which his partner accidentally threw out - with the cryptocurrency worth an eye-watering amount today.

The conundrum

Soon after realizing his partner had accidentally ditched the hard drive at Newport City Council's landfill site, Howells immediately called the council and asked to come and retrieve it.

Unfortunately, the council said no and a battle commenced, with Howell resolving to sue the council for $648m for not allowing him to come and find the hard drive, alongside reportedly hiring NASA data recovery engineers to pin point where the hard drive may be lying.

And to make matters even more frustrating for Howells, the worth of the Bitcoins has since increased even further in recent times.

How much the Bitcoins are worth now

Howells told the BBC the hard drive is now worth over $632,079,290 and at the time of writing, 8,000 Bitcoins are worth even more - a staggering $735,629,360.

Why? Well, Donald Trump winning the 2024 US Presidential Election led to a spike in the price of the digital currency, so much so its value has reached an all time high.

But if the hard drive is worth such a lot, why is the council still refusing to help Howells retrieve it?

The battle continues

Well, a spokesman for Newport Council said the council has told Howells 'multiple times' an 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' and that it's the 'only body authorised to carry out operations on the site' and 'follows a strict monitoring and reporting regime for all environmental parameters'.

Howells responded: "They [the council] are currently, in my opinion, withholding my property without my consent and they’re not allowing me to search for it.

"The last time we put an offer to them to meet, it was worth £500 million ($632,079,290) , a few weeks ago, and they refused that...

"I am still willing to avert court action and have a sensible and amicable conversation with Newport City Council, but there has to be no messing around. They have to come and speak to me.”

A Newport City Council spokesperson said: "Mr. Howells has brought a civil claim against the council for a sum in the region of £0.5bn.

The claim has no merit, and the council is vigorously resisting it.