ladbible homepage
ladbible homepage
  • iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK
    • US
    • World
    • Ireland
    • Australia
    • Science
    • Crime
    • Weather
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV
    • Film
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • Netflix
    • Disney
  • Sport
  • Technology
  • Travel
  • Lifestyle
  • Money
  • Originals
    • FFS PRODUCTIONS
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Archive
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content Here
  • SPORTbible
  • Tyla
  • GAMINGbible
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • FOODbible
  • UNILAD Tech
Man Hunting For Missing Hard Drive Containing £150m Worth Of Bitcoin Comes Up With Huge Plan To Get It Back

Home> News

Published 09:56 2 Aug 2022 GMT+1

Man Hunting For Missing Hard Drive Containing £150m Worth Of Bitcoin Comes Up With Huge Plan To Get It Back

James Howells has been trying to get the council to allow him to search for his lost hard drive since 2013

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers

google discoverFollow us on Google Discover

A man has come up with a huge plan to find an old hard drive that contains £150 million of bitcoin.

Almost a decade ago, James Howells accidentally threw his treasure chest away during a big clear out.

And over the years, he's appealed to the council in Newport, Wales, to allow him to carry out a massive dig in the city's landfill to retrieve it.

But the 37-year-old has constantly been knocked back, with bosses telling the IT engineer that they're unable to grant his request, claiming his plans pose a risk to the local environment.

Advert

Speaking to the BBC, James said he has taken their concerns on board and has put together a team to find the hard drive safely.

He said: "Digging up a landfill is a huge operation in itself.

James has spent the past decade searching for his lost hard drive.
BBC

"The funding has been secured. We've brought on an AI specialist. Their technology can easily be retrained to search for a hard drive.

"We've also got an environmental team on board. We've basically got a well-rounded team of various experts, with various expertise, which, when we all come together, are capable of completing this task to a very high standard."

James has also gone back to them and pledged to give 10 percent of his bitcoin to the council to turn Newport into a crypto-currency hub.

He also plans on installing crypto terminals in every shop in the city.

"We've got a whole list of incentives, of good cases we'd like to do for the community," he explained.

"One of the things we'd like to do on the actual landfill site, once we've cleaned it up and recovered that land is put a power generation facility, maybe a couple of wind turbines.

"We'd like to set up a community owned (Bitcoin) mining facility which is using that clean electricity to create bitcoin for the people of Newport."

James' bitcoin is said to be worth £150 million.
Robert Hoetink/Alamy

Despite his promises of investment, however, it doesn't appear as though Newport council is going to budge on the matter.

In a statement, it said that his proposals are simply too dangerous.

A spokesperson said: "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."

Last year, James estimated that his fortune was worth an estimated £340m, and failed to convince the council to help him find the 'pot of gold'.

He told the Sun at the time: "It could be the case that the hard drive is worth a billion dollars and failing to act on it will be incompetence on behalf of the council.

"It's not a problem that's going to go away."

Featured Image Credit: BBC

Topics: UK News, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Technology

Dominic Smithers
Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers is LADbible's Editorial Lead. After graduating from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History, he went on to write for the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express. So as you can imagine, he’s spent many a night wondering just how useful that second language has been. But c'est la vie.

X

@SmithersDom

Recommended reads

People left divided by Digital ID as some explain why they prefer it to a physical oneGetty ImagesBritish author with passport in date refused entry onto flight because of little-known ruleGuy Smallman/Getty ImagesSurvey finds new Omeprazole side effect as NHS doctor issues warning to takersgetty stockEuphoria is a remake of Israeli TV show and no one realisedHBO

Advert

  • Man accidentally binned Bitcoin hard drive that’s now worth £569 million
  • Update in case of man hunting binned Bitcoin hard drive that’s now worth £612 million
  • Man hunting binned Bitcoin drive worth £600 million makes huge offer to try and recover it
  • Man is suing council for £495 million because they won't let him dig up his lost Bitcoin hard drive

Choose your content:

15 mins ago
an hour ago
3 hours ago
5 hours ago
  • Getty Images
    15 mins ago

    People left divided by Digital ID as some explain why they prefer it to a physical one

    They are planned to arrive in the UK by 2029

    News
  • getty stock
    an hour ago

    Survey finds new Omeprazole side effect as NHS doctor issues warning to takers

    Prolonged use can lead to some potentially serious side effects

    News
  • Instagram/@kaitrupgolfer
    3 hours ago

    Donald Trump's granddaughter accused of breaking golden rule during Masters attendance

    Kai Trump, granddaughter of Donald Trump, was questioned by fans after she attended the Masters and posted pictures on social media

    News
  • Alex Wong/Getty Images
    5 hours ago

    Trump threatens to 'finish up the little that is left of Iran' with new war tactic that could cripple world economy

    A financial expert has issued a warning after peace talks between the US and Iran went kaput

    News