法官駁回男子從垃圾掩埋場回收裝有價值 6 億英鎊比特幣的硬碟的行為

James Howells 辯稱，他的前伴侶在 2013 年不小心扔掉了裝有比特幣錢包的硬碟，他尋求進入垃圾掩埋場的許可

A man's bid to sue a council to retrieve a Bitcoin hard drive from a rubbish tip has been dismissed by a judge.

一名男子起訴議會，要求從垃圾堆中取回比特幣硬碟，但已被法官駁回。

James Howells, from Newport, South Wales, claims his ex-partner accidentally threw away the hard drive in 2013 - and that it is now worth around £600 million.

來自南威爾斯紐波特的詹姆斯·豪厄爾斯 (James Howells) 聲稱，他的前伴侶在 2013 年不小心扔掉了硬碟，而現在它的價值約為 6 億英鎊。

He had asked the High Court for permission to access the landfill to try to recover the cryptocurrency.

他已請求高等法院允許進入垃圾掩埋場以嘗試回收加密貨幣。

Mr Howells even offered a share of the recovered Bitcoin with Newport City Council if the hard drive was successfully found.

如果成功找到硬碟，豪厄爾斯先生甚至向紐波特市議會提供了一部分恢復的比特幣。

But the council asked a High Court judge to strike out Mr Howells' legal action, which aimed either to access the site or instead to receive £495 million in compensation.

但該委員會要求高等法院法官駁回豪厄爾斯先生的法律訴訟，該訴訟旨在要么訪問該網站，要么獲得 4.95 億英鎊的賠償。

Judge Keyser KC ruled on Monday that there were no "reasonable grounds" for the claim and that there was "no realistic prospect" of success if the case went to trial.

凱瑟·KC 法官週一裁定，這一指控沒有“合理的理由”，而且如果案件進入審判階段，“沒有成功的現實前景”。

During the December hearing, the court was told Mr Howells was an early adopter of Bitcoin and had successfully mined the cryptocurrency.

在 12 月的聽證會上，法院被告知 Howells 先生是比特幣的早期採用者，並且已經成功開採了這種加密貨幣。

As the value of his missing digital wallet increased, Mr Howells assembled a team of experts to try to locate, recover, and access the hard drive.

隨著丟失的數位錢包的價值不斷增加，豪厄爾斯先生組建了一個專家團隊，試圖找到、恢復和存取硬碟。

He had repeatedly requested permission from the council to access the landfill and had even offered a share of the recovered Bitcoin if the hard drive was successfully found.

他曾多次請求委員會允許進入垃圾掩埋場，如果成功找到硬碟，他甚至願意分享回收的比特幣。

Mr Howells mined the Bitcoin back in 2009 for a negligible cost and says he completely forgot about it when he discarded the hard drive.

豪厄爾斯先生在 2009 年以微不足道的成本開採了比特幣，並表示當他丟棄硬碟時，他完全忘記了這件事。

With Bitcoin's value rising more than 80% in 2024, Mr Howells now estimates his 8,000 bitcoins are worth over £600 million.

隨著比特幣的價值在 2024 年上漲超過 80%，豪厄爾斯先生現在估計他的 8,000 個比特幣價值超過 6 億英鎊。

But James Goudie KC, representing the council, said the hard drive became the council's property as soon as it entered the landfill site under existing laws.

但代表該委員會的 James Goudie KC 表示，根據現行法律，該硬碟一旦進入垃圾掩埋場，就成為該委員會的財產。

He also pointed out that the council’s environmental permits would prohibit any excavation to search for the hard drive.

他還指出，該委員會的環境許可證將禁止任何挖掘硬碟的行為。

Mr Goudie said the offer to donate 10% of the Bitcoin to the local community was encouraging the council to "play fast and loose," essentially "signing up for a share of the action."

古迪先生表示，向當地社區捐贈 10% 比特幣的提議鼓勵該委員會“快速而寬鬆地行事”，本質上是“簽署參與行動的一部分”。

In his written judgment, the judge stated: "I also find that the claim has no realistic prospect of success if it went to trial and that there is no other compelling reason to proceed with the case."

法官在書面判決中表示：“我還認為，如果進入審判階段，該索賠沒有成功的現實前景，並且沒有其他令人信服的理由繼續審理此案。”

The landfill contains over 1.4 million tonnes of waste, but Mr Howells claimed he had pinpointed the location of the hard drive to an area with around 100,000 tonnes of waste.

該垃圾掩埋場含有超過 140 萬噸廢物，但豪厄爾斯先生聲稱他已將硬碟的位置精確到了一個約 10 萬噸廢物的區域。

Mr Howells has speculated that the Bitcoin on his hard drive could be worth £1 billion by next year.

豪厄爾斯先生推測，到明年他硬碟上的比特幣可能價值 10 億英鎊。

Speaking to BBC Wales outside the court in Cardiff last December, Mr Howells expressed confidence in his case and said he was prepared to take it all the way to the Supreme Court.

去年 12 月，豪厄爾斯在卡迪夫法院外接受 BBC Wales 採訪時表示，他對自己的案件充滿信心，並表示他準備將案件一路上訴到最高法院。