But Howells has not given up - this time he wants to use the services of Ontrack. The firm is famous for helping NASA find the hard drive on the space shuttle Columbia after it crashed in 2003. At the time they recovered 99 per cent of the data, even though the device had lain at the bottom of a dried-up lake for six months after the incident.

Accordingly, James hopes for a similar scenario. In addition, finding his lost treasure will clearly not only pay for any services to locate the device and decrypt the data, but also stay at a serious profit.

How to search for lost bitcoins

Ontrack analysts are quite optimistic about Howells’ bid. They assume that after a successful search of his hard drive they will be able to recover up to 90 per cent of the information on it – and that should be enough to get access to the contents of the cryptocurrency address beforehand. True, it’s not yet clear exactly how the digital asset lover will achieve the search operation.

Hard drive recovery process


Its complexity lies in the fact that we will have to pick up the huge amount of junk in the landfill that has been generated over all the previous years. A serious engineering project could have negative consequences for the environment - which is why the mayor's office is refusing to give the go-ahead for the operation.

Howells had previously tried to get permission for a similar action, but he ultimately failed to get approval. Perhaps this time experts will suggest an innovative way to recover the hard drive without causing serious harm to nature.


Newport landfill

Howells’ story was published by the Mirror news outlet. In an interview he said he intended to persuade the local authorities in Newport to find the carrier. Here’s his line, in which the digital asset aficionado shares his perspective on the situation.

I spoke to experts who worked with NASA to recover information from the Space Shuttle Columbia. They were able to retrieve the hard drive from the exploded shuttle and don’t seem to think that working in a landfill would be a problem. The current estimate for the device is £342 million, but about a week ago it was at a peak of £420 million.

The investor made it clear here that he is actively following what is happening in the coin market and Bitcoin in particular. Today, the first cryptocurrency is valued at $46.4 thousand, although back in the first half of November, BTC set a record at $69 thousand.

Bitcoin’s daily rate chart

The worst case scenario is possible – what if James does manage to find the hard drive, but can’t recover information from it? According to the crypto-enthusiast, Newport City Hall will still be compensated for the search operation as part of the signed contract. However, a City Hall spokesman said it was unlikely they would be able to come to an agreement with Howells.

Here is his rejoinder.

The cost of excavating the landfill, storing and handling the waste could run into the millions of pounds – with no guarantee that the carrier will be found or remain in working order. Even if we were able to agree to his request, there remains the issue of reimbursement of funds in the event of a failed search operation. We have therefore made it clear that we cannot assist him in this matter.

James Howells


We believe that James Howells has a chance of recovering the lost device and gaining access to his coins. However, he will need to solve the disagreement with the local authorities and the experts will have to do their best. The outcome of this initiative will surely be clear in the near future.


If the bullrun goes ahead, the value of Howells’ hard drive could eventually reach a billion dollars. So far, his bitcoins have fallen out of circulation, but can the crypto-enthusiast get his way? Stay tuned for more developments in our Millionaire Cryptochat. There, we’ll talk about other topics related to the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry.