A British man is suing a UK council for millions of dollars after they refused to let him search a landfill for a hard drive containing Bitcoin, also worth millions, after it was accidentally thrown out by his partner, according to a report.
James Howells' partner at the time accidentally threw out his BTC wallet in 2013 which contained 8,000 Bitcoin, now valued at over $500 million, according to WalesOnline.
Despite numerous requests over the last decade to excavate the landfill, the City Council of Newport has repeatedly denied him permission, citing environmental risks.
Howells has gone as far as to assemble and fund an excavation team, with the promise of giving the council 10% of the recovered value if found, according to WalesOnline.
Now, Howells has taken legal action, filing a $647 million lawsuit against the council, which represents the peak value of the lost Bitcoin. Howells argues that the council has blocked his recovery attempts for years.
The case is set for a December court hearing, where Howells hopes to get his excavation approved. If he succeeds, the recovery effort would take 18 to 36 months, involving the excavation of around 100,000 tons of waste.
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