A landfill site in Newport, Wales, is set to close and be permanently sealed between 2025 and 2026, burying a fortune in bitcoin forever. The landfill holds a hard drive containing 7,500 bitcoins — now worth approximately $750 million — accidentally thrown away in 2013 by IT engineer James Howells.
From Miner to Lost Treasure
James Howells began mining bitcoin in 2009 when the cryptocurrency was virtually worthless. By 2013, he had accumulated thousands of coins. While cleaning his home, he mistakenly threw away the hard drive containing the private keys to his bitcoin wallet. The drive was taken to the Docksway landfill in Newport, where it has remained for over a decade.
Since then, Howells has repeatedly petitioned the Newport City Council to allow him to dig through the landfill to recover the drive. He offered to donate a significant portion of the recovered bitcoins to local community projects, but the council consistently refused, citing environmental, safety, and cost concerns.
Legal Battles Fall Short
In 2024, the High Court of England and Wales ruled against Howells, stating that the council had no legal obligation to grant access and that the hard drive was considered abandoned property. His appeals were also unsuccessful. The court emphasized the significant environmental risks of excavating the site, including the release of hazardous gases and leachate, as well as the enormous cost — estimated at over £10 million.
With the landfill scheduled to be capped and sealed in 2025-26, Howells has effectively lost all hope of ever retrieving the bitcoin. The council plans to convert part of the closed landfill into a solar farm, which will generate renewable energy to power its growing fleet of electric bin lorries, part of a broader transition away from diesel vehicles.
A Story of Lost Digital Wealth
The tale of the lost 7,500 bitcoins has become a cautionary story in the crypto community. If still held, those coins would now be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, even after the volatile price swings of recent years. At the time of the landfill closure announcement, bitcoin's price hovered around $67,000, making the lost stash worth over $500 million.
Newport City Council, meanwhile, sees the solar farm as a long-term asset for the community — reducing carbon emissions and cutting fuel costs. The decision reflects a pragmatic choice between an intangible, buried digital asset and tangible environmental benefits. Howells, now over a decade into his quest, has resigned himself to the loss. He told local media: "It's like losing a winning lottery ticket, but you never actually had it in your hand."
The irony is not lost on observers: a piece of digital history worth three-quarters of a billion dollars will soon be entombed under earth and grass, while above it, solar panels will convert sunlight into clean energy for the very city that refused to dig it up.