Basri Caneri 
A landfill site in the United Kingdom where a hard disk containing 8000 Bitcoins is thought to be buried will be permanently closed in the 2025-26 financial year. This landfill site in Newport, Wales, was at the center of Bitcoin miner James Howells’ struggle to find his lost fortune.
Ten-Year Struggle Comes to an End
The regional council has announced that the landfill has reached the end of its life and will be completely closed within two years , the BBC reported on February 9. Permission has been granted to convert part of the site into a solar power plant, officials said.
James Howells, a former IT worker from Newport, claimed that in 2013 he accidentally trashed his ex-partner’s hard drive, which contained 8000 BTC he had mined in 2009. He had been fighting a legal battle for years to get back these Bitcoins, which are worth approximately 768 million dollars today.
The Court has made a final decision
For years, the Howells have demanded permission from the municipality to excavate the landfill or compensation for the loss. However, in January the court rejected these requests, stating that the case had “no realistic chance of winning “.
Howells had argued that the hard disk could easily be found using artificial intelligence and advanced technology and that the excavation would cost neither the municipality nor the public. However, Newport council rejected the request, citing that such an excavation would violate environmental permits and cause massive ecological damage.
Missing Bitcoins and Future Threats
The 8000 BTC thought to be on James Howells’ hard drive is only a small part of the vast fortune lost in the crypto world. Web3 executive Al Leong notes that 13% of the total Bitcoin supply – about 3 million BTC – is inaccessible.
On the other hand, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino suggests that quantum computers could in the future hack into lost Bitcoin wallets and put these assets back into circulation. Some analysts say this could put selling pressure on the Bitcoin price.
With the closure of the landfill in Newport, Howells’ years-long hope of recovering $768 million in Bitcoin appears to be largely over.
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