UK Judge Dismisses $770M Bitcoin Landfill Hard Drive Case: A Lesson for Crypto Investors

Name	Symbol	Market	Market Cap ($)	Algorithm
Ethereum	ETHUSD	Crypto	397,898,849,304	Not Mineable

Name

Symbol

Market

Market Cap ($)

Algorithm

Ethereum

ETHUSD

Crypto

397,898,849,304

Not Mineable

	Price Change	Price Change %	Current Price	Bid Price	Offer
	-4.99	-0.15%	3,305.38	3,305.39	3,305.60

Price Change

Price Change %

Current Price

Bid Price

Offer

-4.99

-0.15%

3,305.38

3,305.39

3,305.60

High Price	Low Price	Open Price	Prev. Close	52 Week Range
3,324.15	3,269.06	3,311.56	3,310.37	2,112.00 - 4,109.67

High Price

Low Price

Open Price

Prev. Close

52 Week Range

3,324.15

3,269.06

3,311.56

3,310.37

2,112.00 - 4,109.67

Exchange	Last Trade	Size	Trade Price	Currency
GDAX	13:45:13	0.001270	3,305.62	USD

Exchange

Last Trade

Size

Trade Price

Currency

GDAX

13:45:13

0.001270

3,305.62

USD

Price x Volume	Volume	Base Symbol	Related Pairs
99,557,518.23	30,207.27	ETH	ETHEUR	ETHGBP	ETHBTC

Price x Volume

Volume

Base Symbol

Related Pairs

99,557,518.23

30,207.27

UK Judge Dismisses $770M Bitcoin Landfill Hard Drive Case: A Lesson for Crypto Investors

10/01/2025 8:25am

NEWSBTC

A UK judge has dismissed the long-standing legal case of James Howells, who sought access to a landfill containing a hard drive with Bitcoin worth more than $770 million. This ends the 12-year saga for the IT engineer from Newport, Wales that captivated the cryptocurrency community all these years. Back in 2009, Howells mined 8,000 Bitcoin, which was valued very low back then but is now trading around $94,600, with the stage set for a major BTC comeback after recent price drops. However, Howells’ former partner mistakenly disposed of the hard drive that contained his private keys in 2013, which rendered the funds inaccessible. Since then, he has sought legal action to obtain permission to excavate the Newport landfill. He even offered a share of the recovered Bitcoin to the local council. James Howells Loses 12-Year Legal Battle Although Howells made repeated requests and put forward his proposal for excavation, the Newport City Council declined his appeals citing logistical and environmental concerns. The final blow came when Circuit Commercial Judge Keyser ruled out the case on the grounds of “no realistic prospect” to succeed. He remarked the search as looking for a needle in a haystack and was simply not viable. “Anything that goes into the landfill goes into the council’s ownership,” said the judge. Howells expressed his frustration after losing the 12-year long legal battle, claiming that the authorities had not considered his case properly. However, he acknowledged that the court confirmed his ownership of the Bitcoin. Now, he is left to explore alternative options like tokenization to monetize his digital assets. The Howells case serves as a precautionary tale for global crypto investors. It demonstrates the importance of securely storing digital assets. Cryptocurrencies are different from traditional financial systems and need private keys for access. Losing these keys may result in the permanent loss of the assets. Keep Your Crypto Safe with Best Wallet This case is a wake-up call for those investing in cryptocurrency, whether that’s the likes of Bitcoin and Ethereum or one of the best meme coins. Digital solutions like Best Wallet are, therefore, a must-have for every investor. It offers a secure cloud-based platform, eliminating the risks associated with physical storage devices like hard drives or USBs. Crypto wallets come with features like automatic backups, multi-device synchronization, and robust security protocols. Best Wallet, in this context, ensures that investors never face catastrophic losses like Howells. Investors prioritizing safety and convenience must adopt a modern wallet as a smart step to protect their crypto assets in the digital economy. With Best Wallet, you can buy, store, sell, deposit, stake, and manage your crypto holdings in a single place. Plus, you can track your portfolio in real-time with quick overviews of all your transactions. The platform goes a step ahead and also offers market insights and key crypto market updates so that you can stay updated at all times. It’s worth noting that there’s also $BEST, which is Best Wallet’s proprietary token. The token is currently in presale. Holding $BEST gives you early access to crypto presales, reduced transaction fees, and $BEST airdrops. The wallet itself is easy to use and non-custodial, plus you do not need any KYC to trade in cryptocurrency.

Market Data

News

Trading Tools

Markets

Discover

Hot Features

Follow Feed

Options Flow

Monitor

ETHUSD Ethereum