Bitcoin buried in Newport landfill

Last updated

Docksway landfill, Newport, Wales, 2007. The hard drive containing Bitcoin was buried here in 2013. Newport City Landfill Site - geograph.org.uk - 471790.jpg
Docksway landfill, Newport, Wales, 2007. The hard drive containing Bitcoin was buried here in 2013.

In mid-2013, James Howells disposed of a laptop hard drive containing the private key for 8,000 Bitcoin in the Docksway landfill in Newport, Wales. [a] Howells subsequently assembled a team of specialists and secured funding to excavate the site, but the Newport City Council refused permission, citing the cost and environmental impact of the search. If the coins are discovered, Howell proposes distributing 30% of the proceedings among the council and the population of Newport.

Contents

As of January 2025, the missing Bitcoins were worth US$846 million (£695 million). In December, Howells sued the council for £495 million, with the council contesting that the device is now its property. The attempted recovery of the missing Bitcoin has been likened to a digital treasure hunt. Howells and his team are confident that retrieval of the data remains possible, while the council continues to profess its scepticism. Following a hearing, the High Court dismissed Howells’ claim in January 2025 ruling that it had no prospect of success.

Background

Logarithmic chart showing the number of Bitcoin transactions per month since 2009, when Howells began studying the protocol. Bitcoin transactions per month.svg
Logarithmic chart showing the number of Bitcoin transactions per month since 2009, when Howells began studying the protocol.

Creation of Bitcoin

Bitcoin, the first decentralized cryptocurrency, was announced in October 2008 with the whitepaper Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System by Satoshi Nakamoto, [12] [13] followed by the implementation of the protocol as a peer-to-peer network in January 2009. [14] It is a significant digital currency that uses cryptography to verify blockchain transactions and record them in a public ledger. [12] [15]

James Howells

James Howells, a Welsh computer engineer from Newport, was influenced at a young age by his mother, who was involved in the production of microchips. [16] [17] [18] By his teens, he was a regular user of the internet. Howells began building computers at the age of 13 and became a Napster user around the time of Bitcoin's inception. [12] [19] Working various IT jobs, he learnt about encryption while working on a Bowman communications system. Howells taught himself about Bitcoin in December 2008 and began studying the concept a month later. [19] After the 2008 bank bailout, Howells considered fiat currencies a scam, favouring the vision of Bitcoin inventor Nakamoto instead. He became an early adopter of the technology in 2009. [12] By 2013, Howells was living in Newport with his three children and then partner Hafina Eddy-Evans. [20] The two later broke up with Eddy-Evans leaving with the children. [12] In 2021, he worked from home maintaining emergency-response systems in Wales. [12] A year later, he described himself as a cryptocurrency and blockchain project manager. [21]

Early Bitcoin mining

Logarithmic mining difficulty chart of Bitcoin, showing the ease of mining in 2009 when Howells started mining. Bitcoin difficulty.svg
Logarithmic mining difficulty chart of Bitcoin, showing the ease of mining in 2009 when Howells started mining.

On 15 February 2009, [19] James Howells, started mining Bitcoin with a Dell XPS laptop. [5] [2] He recalled mining 400–800 Bitcoin intermittently overnight for two months, [19] which caused his device to overheat. [12] Howells later damaged the device and dismantled it for parts, selling some on eBay. [5] [2] The laptop, containing 32 kilobytes worth of Bitcoin private keys, was also used for gaming, and held music, e-mails and family photographs. [12] The Telegraph considers Howells one of the earliest miners on the Bitcoin network, [23] with The New Yorker further identifying him as one of only five miners at the time of his participation. [12]

Disposal of hard drive

Between 20 June and 10 August 2013, Howells accidentally disposed of an encrypted hard drive, [5] [2] mistaking one device for another. [17] The disposed hard drive contained the cryptographic private key for 8,000 Bitcoin [a] [21] [8] valued at £500,000 at the time. [2] [23] According to reports, Hafina Eddy-Evans, Howells's partner at the time, took the trash with the hard drive to the tip (landfill). [12] [19] According to Eddy-Evans, Howells "begged" her to take the unwanted items to the tip. She denies fault, [20] while Howells said he "subconsciously blames" her for the loss of the hard drive. [12]

By November 2013, the device was approximately three to five feet underground in Docksway landfill, Newport, South Wales, with an approximate value of £4 million. [1] At the time, Howells accepted that the coins were lost for good. [2] Newport City Council notes that the hard drive was likely "buried under 25,000 cubic meters of waste and earth", [24] weighing approximately 110,000–200,000 tonnes, [5] [8] [25] with CNN reporting the challenge in finding the device as near to impossible. [24] The former manager of the landfill site says the hard drive is located in a 15,000 tonne section named Cell 2, where waste was buried between August and November 2013. [19] The site holds 1.4 million tonnes of waste in total. [11]

Search attempts

Logarithmic chart of Bitcoins price from 2011 to 2019, showing the increase in value of the hard drive since its dispoal. As the value increased, since 2017, Howells escalated his attempts to try and retrieve the device. BitCoin-USDollar 2011-19 (Bitstamp, Mt. Gox).png
Logarithmic chart of Bitcoins price from 2011 to 2019, showing the increase in value of the hard drive since its dispoal. As the value increased, since 2017, Howells escalated his attempts to try and retrieve the device.

In December 2017, Wired reported that the Newport City Council refused to allow Howells to search for the hard drive. According to Howells, the proposed search involves the first case, unrelated to a criminal investigation, of excavating a landfill site in the United Kingdom. The council cited cost concerns, environmental impact, galvanic corrosion of the device, and the potential of "treasure hunters" breaking the law. [5] Initially the council took a soft approach to the situation, indicating that they would return the device if found, but later took a tougher stance, [12] and stated that searching for the hard drive would be against the law. [4]

In January 2021, after repeatedly requesting access to search for the device, Howells offered the council 25% of the proceedings then valued at approximately £200 million. [12] He offered to donate £52.5 million (US$71.7 million) to the council which would go to the 316,000 people of Newport, equivalent to £175 per person. [26] The council refused, claiming Howells's offer was in breach of licensing regulations. [26] Howells believes the drive is still functional due to its protective casing [27] and the anti-corrosive cobalt layer coating the glass disk. [12]

To support his search efforts, Howells acquired financial support from a hedge fund with whom he would split 50% of the proceedings. [26] He believes that using council waste records they can identify the location of the device. [27] After they identify and find the hard drive, a team of data recovery specialists would help recover the Bitcoin. [26] The council estimates that the excavation would cost millions of pounds, [27] [7] with Howells budgeting £5 million for a 9–12 month operation. [12]

Even if we were able to agree to his request, there is the question of who would meet the cost if the hard drive was not found or was damaged to such an extent that the data could not be recovered.

Newport City Council,
2 August 2022 [25]

In August 2022, Howells expanded his search plan to include the use of artificial intelligence using a mechanical arm to scan waste to identify the hard drive; the plan also called for using drones, and Boston Dynamics robotic dogs for security, as well as recruiting an AI specialist and an environmental team to the project. [21] [25] [9] His team includes eight experts in landfill excavation, and a data recovery advisor who helped recover the black box from the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. The budget also increased to £10–11 million with the help of venture capitalists who would retain 30% of the proceedings along with Howell. [8] [25]

Additionally, Howells now intended to develop a community-owned mining facility on the landfill site with the proceedings. [9] The facility would use solar or wind power. [25] That same year, Richard Hammond produced a short documentary on Howells's quest to retrieve the drive involving the recovery team, and by September 2023, the team doubled in size. [28]

Litigation

Howells's legal team published an open letter to the Newport City Council on 6 September 2023 with his intention to sue. The letter sought to prevent future works on the site while seeking £446 million in damages and a judicial review of the council's decision refusing access to the site. [28] Two months later, his legal team wrote again to the council requesting access prior to pursuing a case in court. [29]

By October 2024, the contents of the hard drive were estimated at $750 million. Howells sued the council for £495 million, [11] [30] setting a date for a commerce court in Cardiff in December 2024, arguing for intellectual property rights among other claims. [31] According to Wales Online, Howells was represented by the same team of barristers that also represented some of the alleged victims against Mohamed Al-Fayed. In response, the council argued that they legally own the device as the property was deposited to the site; Howells's barristers denied such claim based on intent. [30]

The council requested a High Court hearing on 3 December with the intent to have the case dismissed. The Judge postponed the verdict until a later date. Council barristers argued Howells attempted to "bribe the council" by offering a percentage of the Bitcoin to the local community. Howells's legal team contested, arguing that their client was entitled to search for his missing hard drive. [32] [33]

In a judgement issued on 9 January 2025, Judge Keyser (KC) dismissed Howells’ claim, saying that it had "no realistic prospect of succeeding". [34] [35] Howells told Wales Online he was "very disappointed" but that he had a new plan to start a cryptocurrency based on his inaccessible Bitcoin wealth. [36]

Opinion

Howells said that he would have sold 30–40% of the Bitcoin in 2013 if he had access to it, believing that reaching $100,000 was a "conservative figure" for the cryptocurrency. By 2017, he described cryptocurrencies as the "new gold, oil and water combined". He focused on Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum, [5] anticipating an increase in Bitcoin's value on the hard drive rising to between $500 million and $1 billion. [23] In 2024, approximately seven years later, the value of the hard drive increased to $749 million. [31]

Howells believed that the chances of retrieving the device increased as the value increased. [23] By 2022, Howells was 80–90% confident that he could successfully recover the hard drive data. [25] At the same time, he acknowledged that the device was "a needle in a haystack" and that the investment from venture capitalists was extremely high-risk. [25]

In 2024, Howells's legal team stated in court that the metaphorical haystack was theoretically "much, much smaller", due to the "considerable expertise" involved in planning an excavation. [32] [33] Attempts to recover the device have been described as a digital treasure hunt. [31] [37]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Reports of the total number of Bitcoin lost were initially 7,500 in 2013, [1] [2] [3] 2017, [4] [5] until 2021, [6] [7] followed by 8,000 from 2022 onwards. [8] [9] [10] [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bitcoin</span> Decentralized digital currency

Bitcoin is the first decentralized cryptocurrency. Based on a free-market ideology, bitcoin was invented in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto, an unknown entity. Use of bitcoin as a currency began in 2009, with the release of its open-source implementation. In 2021, El Salvador adopted it as legal tender. It is mostly seen as an investment and has been described by some scholars as an economic bubble. As bitcoin is pseudonymous, its use by criminals has attracted the attention of regulators, leading to its ban by several countries as of 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cryptocurrency</span> Digital currency not reliant on a central authority

A cryptocurrency, crypto-currency, or colloquially, crypto, is a digital currency designed to work through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of bitcoin</span> Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, a digital asset that uses cryptography to control its creation and management rather than relying on central authorities. Originally designed as a medium of exchange, Bitcoin is now primarily regarded as a store of value. The history of bitcoin started with its invention and implementation by Satoshi Nakamoto, who integrated many existing ideas from the cryptography community. Over the course of bitcoin's history, it has undergone rapid growth to become a significant store of value both on- and offline. From the mid-2010s, some businesses began accepting bitcoin in addition to traditional currencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dogecoin</span> Cryptocurrency

Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency created by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, who decided to create a payment system as a joke, making fun of the wild speculation in cryptocurrencies at the time. It is considered both the first "meme coin", and more specifically the first "dog coin". Despite its satirical nature, some consider it a legitimate investment prospect. Dogecoin features the face of Kabosu from the "doge" meme as its logo and namesake. It was introduced on December 6, 2013, and quickly developed its own online community, reaching a peak market capitalization of over US$85 billion on May 5, 2021. As of 2021, it is the sleeve sponsor of Watford Football Club.

Blockchain.com is a cryptocurrency financial services company. The company began as the first Bitcoin blockchain explorer in 2011 and later created a cryptocurrency wallet that accounted for 28% of bitcoin transactions between 2012 and 2020. It also operates a cryptocurrency exchange and provides institutional markets lending business and data, charts, and analytics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vitalik Buterin</span> Canadian programmer (born 1994)

Vitaly Dmitrievich Buterin, better known as Vitalik Buterin, is a Canadian computer programmer and co-founder of Ethereum. Buterin became involved with cryptocurrency early in its inception, co-founding Bitcoin Magazine in 2011. In 2015, Buterin deployed the Ethereum blockchain with Gavin Wood, Charles Hoskinson, Anthony Di Iorio, and Joseph Lubin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethereum</span> Open-source blockchain computing platform

Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain with smart contract functionality. Ether is the native cryptocurrency of the platform. Among cryptocurrencies, ether is second only to bitcoin in market capitalization. It is open-source software.

A cryptocurrency tumbler or cryptocurrency mixing service is a service that mixes potentially identifiable or "tainted" cryptocurrency funds with others, so as to obscure the trail back to the fund's original source. This is usually done by pooling together source funds from multiple inputs for a large and random period of time, and then spitting them back out to destination addresses. As all the funds are lumped together and then distributed at random times, it is very difficult to trace exact coins. Tumblers have arisen to improve the anonymity of cryptocurrencies, usually bitcoin, since the digital currencies provide a public ledger of all transactions. Due to its goal of anonymity, tumblers have been used to money launder cryptocurrency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quadriga (company)</span> Former Canadian cryptocurrency company

Quadriga Fintech Solutions was the owner and operator of QuadrigaCX, which was believed to be Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchange at the time of its collapse in 2019, with the exchange ceasing operations and the company filing for bankruptcy with C$215.7 million in liabilities and about C$28 million in assets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bitcoin Cash</span> Cryptocurrency that is a fork of bitcoin

Bitcoin Cash is a cryptocurrency that is a fork of bitcoin. Launched in 2017, Bitcoin Cash is considered an altcoin or spin-off of bitcoin. In November 2018, Bitcoin Cash further split into two separate cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV).

A cryptocurrency wallet is a device, physical medium, program or an online service which stores the public and/or private keys for cryptocurrency transactions. In addition to this basic function of storing the keys, a cryptocurrency wallet more often offers the functionality of encrypting and/or signing information. Signing can for example result in executing a smart contract, a cryptocurrency transaction, identification, or legally signing a 'document'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bitcoin Gold</span> Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin Gold (BTG) is a cryptocurrency which was created as a hard fork of bitcoin.

Bitmain Technologies Ltd., is a privately owned company headquartered in Beijing, China, that designs application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chips for bitcoin mining.

Tether is a cryptocurrency stablecoin launched by Tether Limited Inc. in 2014.

A cryptocurrency bubble is a phenomenon where the market increasingly considers the going price of cryptocurrency assets to be inflated against their hypothetical value. The history of cryptocurrency has been marked by several speculative bubbles on a boom to bust cycle.

Cryptocurrency and crime describe notable examples of cybercrime related to theft of cryptocurrencies and some methods or security vulnerabilities commonly exploited. Cryptojacking is a form of cybercrime specific to cryptocurrencies used on websites to hijack a victim's resources and use them for hashing and mining cryptocurrency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chia (cryptocurrency)</span> Cryptocurrency

Chia is a cryptocurrency where mining is based on the amount of hard disk storage space devoted to it rather than processing power as with proof of work cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. The platform was created by a California based company called Chia Network Inc. The Chia Network was founded in 2017 by American computer programmer Bram Cohen, the author of the BitTorrent protocol. In May 2021, Chia Network raised a $61 million investment, valuing the company at about $500 million. The same month, the company announced plans to conduct an IPO before the end of 2021. As of 2023, Chia had filed a draft registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission towards an IPO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bitcoin in El Salvador</span> Use and legal status of Bitcoin in El Salvador

El Salvador became the first country in the world to use bitcoin as legal tender, after having been adopted as such by the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador in 2021. It has been promoted by Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, who claimed that it would improve the economy by making banking easier for Salvadorans, and that it would encourage foreign investment. In 2022, more Salvadorians had Bitcoin Lightning wallets than bank accounts. In 2023, Bukele has credited this change to fueling the increase in tourism to El Salvador by 95%. The adoption has been criticized both internationally and within El Salvador, due to the volatility of Bitcoin, its environmental impact, and lack of transparency regarding the government's fiscal policy. In 2024, El Salvador agreed to partially limit its involvement with Bitcoin as part of a deal made with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental impact of bitcoin</span>

The environmental impact of bitcoin is significant. Bitcoin mining, the process by which bitcoins are created and transactions are finalized, is energy-consuming and results in carbon emissions, as about half of the electricity used in 2021 was generated through fossil fuels. Moreover, bitcoins are mined on specialized computer hardware with a short lifespan, resulting in electronic waste. The amount of e-waste generated by bitcoin mining is comparable to that generated by the Netherlands. Scholars argue that bitcoin mining could support renewable energy development by utilizing surplus electricity from wind and solar. Bitcoin's environmental impact has attracted the attention of regulators, leading to incentives or restrictions in various jurisdictions.

The Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange was hacked in August 2016. 119,756 bitcoin, worth about US$72 million at the time, was stolen.

References

  1. 1 2 "James Howells searches for hard drive with £4m-worth of bitcoins stored". BBC News. 28 November 2013. Archived from the original on 27 November 2024. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hern, Alex (27 November 2013). "Missing: hard drive containing Bitcoins worth £4m in Newport landfill site". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  3. ↑ Smith, Alexander (29 November 2013). "IT worker throws out hard drive, loses $7.5 million Bitcoin fortune". NBC News. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  4. 1 2 Carter, Shawn M. (20 December 2017). "Man accidentally threw away $127 million in bitcoin and officials won't allow a search". CNBC. Archived from the original on 30 November 2024. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kobie, Nicole (1 December 2017). "This man's lost bitcoin are now worth $75m – and under 200,000 tonnes of garbage". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028. Archived from the original on 20 September 2024. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  6. ↑ "Bitcoin: Newport man's plea to find £210m hard drive in tip". BBC News. 14 January 2021. Archived from the original on 3 December 2024. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  7. 1 2 Browne, Ryan (15 January 2021). "Man makes last-ditch effort to recover $280 million in bitcoin he accidentally threw out". CNBC. Archived from the original on 6 December 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Morris, Chris (1 August 2022). "The Welshman who accidentally threw out 8,000 Bitcoin in 2013 is mounting an $11 million campaign to get it back". Fortune. Archived from the original on 10 March 2024. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 Middleton, Joe (2 August 2022). "Man who threw away £150m in bitcoin hopes AI and robot dogs will get it back". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  10. ↑ Bevan, Nathan (3 November 2023). "Newport: Can AI help find lost £227m Bitcoin fortune?". BBC News. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  11. 1 2 3 Leston, Ryan (19 November 2024). "Bitcoin: Newport man says binned hard drive now worth £569m". BBC News. Archived from the original on 22 November 2024. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Max, D. T. (6 December 2021). "Half a Billion in Bitcoin, Lost in the Dump". The New Yorker. ISSN   0028-792X. Archived from the original on 23 November 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  13. ↑ Nakamoto, Satoshi (31 October 2008). "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 July 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  14. ↑ Wallace, Benjamin (23 November 2011). "The Rise and Fall of Bitcoin". Wired. Archived from the original on 31 October 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  15. ↑ A History of Bitcoin. Archived 1 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine Monetary Economics: International Financial Flows, Financial Crises, Regulation & Supervision eJournal. Social Science Research Network (SSRN). Accessed 8 January 2018.
  16. ↑ Little, Darren (28 November 2013). "Bitcoin Blunder Man Throws Away '£4m Laptop'". Sky News. Archived from the original on 6 November 2023. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  17. 1 2 Humphries, Will (14 January 2021). "IT worker offers council £50m to let him search tip for bitcoin hard drive". The Times. Archived from the original on 23 November 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  18. ↑ Leston, Ryan (19 November 2024). "Bitcoin: Newport man says binned hard drive now worth £569m". BBC News. Archived from the original on 22 November 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Boggan, Steve (22 January 2023). "How I accidentally threw away £107 million in bitcoin". The Times. Archived from the original on 24 November 2024. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  20. 1 2 Paul, James (28 November 2024). "Ex-Girlfriend Accidentally Disposed Rs 6,000 Cr Worth Bitcoin In Landfill Decade Ago; Man In Legal Battle To Dig Site". Mashable India. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  21. 1 2 3 Barr, Kyle (25 July 2022). "Bitcoin Dumpster Guy Has a Wild Plan to Rescue Millions in Crypto From a Landfill". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on 10 June 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  22. ↑ Hughes, Marcus (14 January 2021). "Man who binned Bitcoin worth £230m wants to give away 25% if found". Wales Online. Archived from the original on 10 December 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  23. 1 2 3 4 Molloy, Mark (3 December 2017). "The unlucky man who accidentally threw away bitcoin worth $100 million". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235. Archived from the original on 9 October 2024. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  24. 1 2 Harrison, Virginia (29 November 2013). "U.K. tech worker dumps hard drive with bitcoins worth $9 million". CNNMoney. Archived from the original on 2 October 2024. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Parekh, Marcus (2 August 2022). "I'll spend £10m to get my Bitcoin back from tip, IT worker tells council". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235. Archived from the original on 2 August 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  26. 1 2 3 4 Kolirin, Lianne (15 January 2021). "Man who accidentally threw out a bitcoin fortune offers $70 million to dig it up". CNN. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  27. 1 2 3 Morris, Steven (14 January 2021). "Man offers Newport council £50m if it helps find bitcoins in landfill". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  28. 1 2 Ross, Madeleine (8 September 2023). "Bitcoin investor who lost £164m in landfill to sue local council". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235. Archived from the original on 8 September 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  29. ↑ Middleton, Joe (7 November 2023). "Robot dogs, AI and the plan to retrieve £165m crypto fortune lost in rubbish dump". The Independent. Archived from the original on 8 December 2024. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  30. 1 2 Gogarty, Conor (12 October 2024). "'I'm suing the council for £495m because they won't give me back my bin bag'". Wales Online. Archived from the original on 23 November 2024. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  31. 1 2 3 Pringle, Eleanor (21 November 2024). "Crypto miner fights to retrieve $749M Bitcoin fortune 'accidentally thrown in landfill'". Fortune. Archived from the original on 22 November 2024. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  32. 1 2 Thomas, Huw (3 December 2024). "Bitcoin man sues Newport council over '£600m fortune lost in tip'". BBC News. Archived from the original on 3 December 2024. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  33. 1 2 Morris, Steven (3 December 2024). "Man has 'finely tuned' plan to find £500m bitcoin thrown in tip, Cardiff court told". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  34. ↑ Morris, Steven (9 January 2025). "Judge halts attempt to retrieve £600m bitcoin wallet from Welsh dump" – via The Guardian.
  35. ↑ Thomas, Huw (9 January 2025). "Bitcoin miner's claim to recover £600m in Newport tip thrown out". BBC News. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
  36. ↑ Gogarty, Conor (9 January 2025). "Man loses fight to dig up landfill for lost £600m Bitcoin - but now has a new plan" – via Wales Online.
  37. ↑ Portillo, Sam (2 November 2023). "Bitcoin treasure hunter's legal fight to get in Newport landfill". South Wales Argus. Archived from the original on 21 November 2024. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.