Briton wants to dig up a landfill to find a lost cryptocurrency wallet

Back in 2013, James Howell, a resident of Wales, threw his bitcoin wallet in the trash while cleaning his office. Initially, he lost 7,500 BTC, but now, due to a series of deposits from unknown addresses, the wallet contains about 8,000 BTC. Since then, the council of Newport, the city where the man lives, has consistently denied Howell permission to dig up and search the dumpster.

The Welshman, who accidentally threw away the hard drive with 8,000 BTC, claims to have «secured funding» to excavate the dump. The man promised that if the wallet was found, he would return 10% to the community.

Howell also promised that:
1. Every person in Newport will be given £50
2. Terminals for cryptocurrency transactions will be installed in every store in the city
3. Newport will have a mining power plant powered by wind turbines or solar panels

«It's not just for me to get rich. I have a whole list of incentives, good things I would like to do for the local community,» the Welshman said.

However, the Newport City Council does not share Howell’s enthusiasm. «According to our environmental analysis, excavations are not possible. Work of this nature would have an extremely negative impact on the environment,» the local authority said in a recent statement.

Last year, Howell estimated that the BTC wallet was buried 15 meters deep in the dumpster. Given the almost 10-year gap since the loss and the huge weight of debris on top, it is unlikely that the hard drive would still be working.