James Howells, an IT engineer from Newport, Wales, has faced a setback in his attempt to recover a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoin, valued at over $750 million. The Newport City Council has denied his requests to access the landfill where the hard drive was discarded in 2013, citing environmental concerns. In a recent ruling, Judge Keyser KC dismissed Howells' case, stating it had 'no realistic prospect' of success at trial and affirming the council's ownership of the landfill. Howells had proposed a £10 million excavation plan to recover the drive but it was rejected due to potential risks to the local ecosystem. Despite losing the court case, Howells hopes to find alternative methods to recover some value from his lost Bitcoin, suggesting tokenization might be an option in the future.

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