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IT expert who threw away Bitcoin hard drive is plotting £10m hunt

by Rozella Toledo (2022-08-25)

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A computer engineer who claimed he accidentally threw his £149million Bitcoin fortune away is now plotting a £10million treasure hunt for the lost hard drive by scouring a landfill site.

James Howells is set to ask Newport City Council if he can dig up the rubbish tip in Wales - a request that has previously been denied several times - using robot dogs and an intricate Artificial Intelligence-powered machine.

The 36-year-old accidentally threw out the hard drive in 2013 and says it now contains Bitcoin worth more than £149million.

He was clearing out his office when the hard drive got binned along with a broken laptop, old keyboards, and 비트코인 mice. 

But despite Mr Howells repeatedly appealing to Newport Council for help in recovering the machine - his requests have been refused for the last nine years.

It comes as cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin are crashing in value again in a new digital currency plunge.

James Howells (pictured above) is set to ask Newport City Council if he can dig up the rubbish tip in Wales - a request that has previously been denied several times - using robot dogs and 코인거래소 an intricate Artificial-Intelligence powered machine

The entrance to the Newport rubbish tip, pictured above. Mr Howells accidentally threw out the hard drive in 2013 and has been trying to get it back ever since

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The council previously told Mr Howells 'on a number of occasions' that 'excavation is not possible under our licencing permit and excavation itself would have a huge environmental impact on the surrounding area'.

However, he is now proposing a £10million hunt to the council in the coming weeks - backed by venture-capital funding - using robot dogs, drones and an AI machine to sift through 110,000 tons of rubbish.

The proposal has two versions - based on how much of the landfill the council will allow him to filter through - using a team of eight experts who are specialised in landfill excavation, waste management, and data extraction.

Mr Howells said he has budgeted for security costs including two robotic 'Spot' dogs that will record CCTV patrols of an evening, so nobody else can try and locate the hard drive overnight. 

A mechanical arm would be brought in to filter through the rubbish and locate the hard drive alongside local pickers.

The IT expert had his first team meeting in May to practice the pitch at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, which was attended by 'The Grand Tour' star Richard Hammond (pictured) 

He told The IT expert had his first team meeting in May to practice the pitch at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, which was attended by 'The Grand Tour' star Richard Hammond. 

Mr Howell's plans also include 'building a solar or wind-energy farm on top of the landfill site once the project is complete'. He believes that even after all this time the hard drive would still be in good enough working order to retrieve the bitcoin files. Mr Howells said if the project was a success, he would keep just 30 per cent of the value and split the rest between his recovery team and investors, while giving the rest to local Newport causes.Newport Council told MailOnline that Mr Howells had made repeated requests for help - but it was unable to assist him.A spokeswoman said: 'Newport City Council has been contacted multiple times since 2013 about the possibility of retrieving a piece of IT hardware said to contain bitcoins, which may or may not be in our landfill site.'The first time was several months after Mr. Howells first realised the hardware was missing. Mr Howells said he has budgeted for security costs including two robotic 'Spot' dogs (pictured) that will record CCTV patrols of an evening, so nobody else can try and locate the hard drive overnight'The council is licenced to carry out work on the landfill site. This licence is issued by Natural Resources Wales, who regulate our work to ensure we adhere stringently to the terms of our permit in our management of the 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 licenced to carry out work on the landfill site.'We have statutory duties which we must carry out in managing the landfill site. Part of this is managing the ecological risk to the site and the wider area. Mr. Howells' proposals pose significant ecological risk which we cannot accept, and indeed are prevented from considering by the terms of our permit.'We would also have to close the site for Mr. Howells to carry out his work. We are a public sector body, and our duty is to provide services to our residents, not sanction speculative excavation work which would hinder delivery of those services'There is also no guarantee that the hard drive is even at the landfill site, and even if it was, the chance of it being found and in a recoverable condition after being in a landfill site for nine years, exposed to high pressures and a corrosive environment, are extremely slim.'We have been very clear and consistent in our responses that we cannot assist Mr. Howells in this matter.MailOnline has contacted Newport City Council for comment.