A man who trashed $750 million worth of Bitcoin has admitted for the first time that it’s “game over” – after a judge rejected his bid to dig it up.
James Howells has described his failed legal bid to recover the fortune as “harrowing” and said he will spend the rest of his life wondering what could have been.
The 39-year-old had launched legal action against a council that refused to allow him to mine the hardware needed to unlock his 8,000 Bitcoins – currently worth around $750 million.
The costly mistake a decade ago led to his then-partner throwing away a black bin bag containing the machine he needed to access his stash.
Since then, it has been dumped in a rubbish tip run by Newport Council in Wales and he has spent years fighting for the right to retrieve it.
Last week a judge at the High Court in Cardiff rejected his legal bid to come in and take it.
And reflecting on the decision, James said he had to face the reality that “it’s game over” in his long battle.
He said: “I’m honestly very disappointed – I thought I at least deserved to have my full say in court with a full trial with all the details put on center stage.
“I thought I would at least have a chance in court, but all we got was a one-day hearing where I didn’t get to speak at all.
“The case has been thrown at the first hurdle and swept under the rug to protect the local council.
“It was always going to be an uphill battle. I believe in my case, but I didn’t think there would be any chance of justice.
“If someone hasn’t changed their mind, it’s a dead bat – it’s game over.” The fat lady is singing. The council owns the land, they own the permit and have the power to change if they want.
“I understand the environmental concerns and they are all valid. But they can be overcome and I would do anything to make sure they are. I have always been fully committed to dealing with this in the most professional manner possible.
“It feels like the end of the world to me. Now I’m stuck with it and I can’t escape it. I’m stuck with it for life.
“Everybody can see it’s still there and it’s not going anywhere. Bitcoin will only grow. Today it is about 125 thousand dollars. When it hits $615k and the coins are worth billions, maybe then someone will come asking me if I want to do the digging. “
In December last year, Newport Council asked a High Court judge to decide its legal action to either enter the landfill or receive $605,194,425 in compensation.
Judge Keyser KC said there were “no reasonable grounds” for bringing the claim and “no realistic prospect” of success at a full trial.
And James said a concession from the judge had been ‘extra painful’ as he refused to recognize him as the owner of the coins – removing the possibility of ‘tokenising’ them in the future.
He added: “The coins have never moved. It would become like a vault where gold is stored and I would create a new asset to trade publicly.
“The value of the new crypto would be tied to the wallet address forever. I was hoping to get something out of this. Using tokenization to turn coins into a new asset.
“Unfortunately the judge refused to give me ownership of the bitcoins as part of the order.
“Newport County Council owns the physical hard drive but they don’t own the Bitcoins. But the judge did not say in his decision ‘James Howells owns Bitcoin’ which was the position originally agreed with the council.
“That would have given me some hope for the future – a small glimmer of hope that even though I couldn’t do the digging, I could refocus and work on the tokenization project. The judge just took it all away.
“It was overwhelming to be honest.”
James said he now has 21 days to appeal, but would have to ask the same judge for permission to do so and would need a sound legal argument.
He added: “So it’s game over. I have not given up and I never will, but it looks very bleak.
“I don’t know what else to do. Maybe Donald Trump can help make something happen. I would certainly stop Trump in the deal if he could help it.
“I appeal to him and anyone else who can help solve this madness. Of course I’m only half-joking, but it would be great if he did.”
James had assembled a legal team of experts who claimed they could come in and take it at no cost to the public purse – while the council argued there would be an ‘adverse environmental impact’.
If the council’s strike-out application was not approved, it would pave the way for a full two-week hearing within the next six months.
James had also pledged to donate ten per cent of revenue to the local area – an offer the council’s legal team had accused of being a “bribe” to the council.
James said that over the years the council had repeatedly refused to engage – and had missed the opportunity to turn Newport into the UK’s ‘Dubai or Las Vegas’.
He said: “Despite being evicted by my ex-partner, which was a mistake and was without my permission or consent, I still own the digital intellectual property located on the hard drive.
“I think I was either entitled to recover the property at full cost to myself or if the landowner refuses, they should pay me the value of my property.
“I’d rather have a chat and dig and work together amicably – but they don’t want to know.
“It’s crazy money that could do so much good for the area.”
James said that although the claim was for around $615 million, he said that all Bitcoin needs to do is reach $150,000 and it will break the billion pound barrier.
Newport City Council said: “Newport City Council has been contacted a number of times since 2013 about the possibility of retrieving some of the IT hardware said to be at our landfill site.
“The council has told Mr Howells several times that excavation is not possible with our environmental permit and that work of this nature would have a major negative environmental impact on the surrounding area.
“The council is the only body authorized to carry out operations in the country.
“Mr. Howells’ claim has no merit and the council is vigorously resisting it.”
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