Man Says His $700M Bitcoin Fortune Was ‘Buried’ in Garbage Dump. Here's How He’s Trying to Get It Back

A man who claims his $700 million Bitcoin fortune was dumped at a landfill is trying to buy the land back in hopes of recovering it, according to a report.

James Howells from Newport, Wales initially tried to sue Newport City Council to get access to Newport's Docks Way where he claimed his ex-girlfriend accidentally dumped his hard drive containing the Bitcoin fortune in 2013. The case was dismissed in January, per BBC.

The council is now planning to close the dump site in the 2025-26 financial year and replace it with a solar farm land, per U.K. outlet The Guardian.

Before that happens, Howells said he is hoping he can purchase the landfill site and be reunited with his fortune.

“I would be potentially interested in purchasing the landfill site," he told the BBC. "I have discussed this option recently with investment partners and it is very much on the table."

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The landfill area contains 1.4 tonnes of waste and Howells believes his beloved bitcoin fortune is in an area of 100,000 tonnes, according to U.K. newspaper The Independent.

In January, Howells’ case was thrown out by Judge Keyser KC based on there being no "reasonable grounds" for bringing it to a full trial, BBC previously reported.

Howells said in reaction to the decision, per the outlet, "The case being struck out at the earliest hearing doesn't even give me the opportunity to explain myself or an opportunity for justice in any shape or form. There was so much more that could have been explained in a full trial and that's what I was expecting.”

"It's not about greed, I'm happy to share the proceeds but nobody in a position of power will have a decent conversation with me," he added.

Related: Who Created Bitcoin? A New Documentary Claims to Have Solved the 'Greatest Question of the Internet Age'

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During the hearing in December, the court heard how Howells forgot about his Bitcoin fortune after he successfully mined it in 2009. The judge argued that the hard drive was now the property of the landfill site, per BBC.

Howells said the councils’ plans to close the dump site so soon after his case dismissal is “a surprise.”

“Especially since it claimed at the High Court that closing the landfill to allow me to search would have a huge detrimental impact on the people of Newport, whilst at the same time they were planning to close the landfill anyway,” he told BBC.

Newport City Council told PEOPLE it is making no further comment on this matter.

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