Bitcoin miner's claim to recover £600m in Newport tip thrown out

A judge has struck out James Howells's attempt to sue Newport City Council for access to a landfill site to recover a hard drive holding Bitcoin, now said to be worth about £598m. Judge Keyser KC found there were no "reasonable grounds" for the claim and "no realistic prospect" of success at a full trial. James Goudie KC, for the council, argued that the hard drive became the council's property when it entered the landfill and that environmental permits would forbid excavation. Howells said he was "very upset" and had offered the council 10% of the Bitcoin.