A British judge has dismissed a claim by a man who wants to excavate a landfill in search of a hard drive containing thousands of bitcoins. James Howells, who claims the hard drive was mistakenly dumped over 11 years ago, argued that it could be recovered and its private key used to access the cryptocurrency. However, High Court Judge Keyser KC ruled against him, stating that there were no “reasonable grounds for bringing this case” and that excavating the landfill would pose significant environmental risks. The judge found that the hard drive’s contents belong to the landfill authority under a 1974 law, and dismissed the claim.
Source: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/01/judge-ends-mans-11-year-quest-to-dig-up-landfill-and-recover-765m-in-bitcoin