Guy who lost hard disk containing $482 million bitcoin fortune has a new solution to find it

A man from Newport, UK is hunting for a hard drive that he lost over a decade ago. IT engineer James Howells accidentally threw away the disk (about the size of a smartphone) that had 7,500 Bitcoin, now worth roughly $482.1 million, in 2013. Ever since he has been after the Newport Council seeking permission to search a dump site. While the council has repeatedly denied his request, Howells has come up with plans to use artificial intelligence, and initiated legal battle to overturn the council's decision.

The story of the lost hard drive

Howells threw the old PC hard drive while doing some spring cleaning in 2013. At the time he wasn't aware that the drive had Bitcoin worth millions. Once he realized what he had lost, he began a desperate search.

He estimated that the hard drive which was worth roughly $665,000 in the early days, must have been dumped at the local landfill site in Newport. Thus, he repeatedly petitioned the city's council to grant him access to the dump.

Taking the fight to court

Howells has been in a dispute with the Welsh local authority for the past decade. He told BBC that he had hired two barristers and a King's council to fight his case. Last year, his legal representatives even issued an ultimatum, insisting the council let Howells begin the search on the site by September 18. However, the council remained firm on their assertion that an excavation project is environmentally dangerous. The council argues that the excavation will have a "huge negative environmental impact" on the local area surrounding the dump. 

Howells has requested a judicial review of the council’s decision and has claimed damages of $557 million, representing the highest valuation yet of the lost Bitcoin, as per CCN. 

On the other hand, a spokesperson for Newport Council told BBC that the piece of hardware Howells is looking for, may not be in their landfill site. However, the crypto investor has argued that the concerns are unnecessary. He added in the BBC report that he has hired some of the best excavators who will search in the most environment-friendly way possible.

How can AI help find the lost hard drive worth millions?

The IT engineer told Unilad that he had studied aerial photographs of the landfill to narrow down the search area to about 200 square meters. He estimates that the section contains 100,000 tonne of rubbish in which his precious hard drive is buried. 

In the BBC report, Howells said he plans to take the garbage to a special unit where it will be placed on a conveyor belt for scanning. He argues that the AI scanning system will recognize anything that looks like a hard drive which will then be separated. He claims he has spoken to the staff at the landfill and is sure that the hard drive hasn't gone through any recycling or crushing cycles.

Howells told The Guardian that he also plans to employ a number of environmental and data recovery experts, and even robot dogs to help with the search and security. 

A treasure worth digging

At the current value as per Coindesk, Howell's hard drive is worth over $481 million.  However, he once told Daily Mail that he estimates the value to soar over a billion in the future. Howells is so confident about the drive's location, that he has pledged to donate 25% of any funds retrieved from the hard drive towards schemes in the local community.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on July 19, 2024. It has since been updated.