“我还能做什么？”：因比特币丢失而起诉市议会超过 6 亿英镑的父亲告诉 LBC 法庭之争是“杠杆”

一名在比特币损失 6.35 亿英镑后将当地议会告上法庭的男子告诉 LBC，他的案件只是吸引议会进行“谈判”的“杠杆”。

A man who sued his local council over £635 million in lost bitcoin has told LBC that his case was just "leverage" to get the council to negotiate with him.

一名因丢失比特币而起诉当地议会的男子告诉 LBC，他的案件只是让议会与他进行谈判的“筹码”。

A judge dismissed James Howells' last-ditch bid on Thursday after he attempted to sue a council in order to retrieve a Bitcoin hard drive from the local rubbish tip - which he claims is now worth over £600 million.

周四，法官驳回了詹姆斯·豪厄尔斯（James Howells）的最后一搏，此前他试图起诉一家议会，以从当地的垃圾场取回比特币硬盘——他声称该硬盘目前价值超过 6 亿英镑。

Howells argued that his ex-partner accidentally threw away the hard drive containing a Bitcoin wallet in 2013, and he sought permission to access the landfill to recover the extremely valuable cryptocurrency.

豪厄尔斯辩称，他的前合伙人在 2013 年不小心扔掉了装有比特币钱包的硬盘，他寻求进入垃圾填埋场的许可，以回收极其有价值的加密货币。

At one point, the father-of-three even offered a share of the recovered Bitcoin with Newport City Council if the hard drive was successfully found.

有一次，如果成功找到硬盘，这位三个孩子的父亲甚至向纽波特市议会提供了一部分恢复的比特币。

But speaking with LBC, Mr Howells said he wanted to "use the case as leverage" to bring Newport council "to the negotiating table".

但豪厄尔斯先生在接受 LBC 采访时表示，他希望“利用此案作为筹码”，让纽波特市议会“坐到谈判桌前”。

"That's all it was ever really wanted with them - a genuine sit down, good faith conversation with the leaders of Newport Council to discuss the possibility of this project going ahead.

“这就是他们真正想要的——与纽波特市议会的领导人进行真诚的坐下来、真诚的对话，讨论该项目继续进行的可能性。

"And I never even got that, to be honest."

“说实话，我从来没有得到过这一点。”

Describing the outcome of the case, he told Tom Swarbrick: "I've been left with pretty much absolutely nothing".

在描述案件的结果时，他告诉汤姆·斯瓦布里克：“我几乎一无所有”。

"What else can I do? I mean, apart from knocking on the front gates of Buckingham palace and asking the King to make the special decree. What else, what else can I do?"

“我还能做什么？我是说，除了敲白金汉宫的大门，请求国王颁布特别法令之外，还能做什么，还能做什么？”

He did admit that he was happy that despite the council winning on all counts, the judge acknowledged the cryptocurrency belonged to him.

他确实承认，他很高兴尽管委员会在所有方面都获胜，但法官承认加密货币属于他。

His aim was to "insert a clause into the final ruling which stated although Newport council are the owner of the hard drive and James doesn't have rights to retrieve it, he is still the owner of the 8,000 bitcoins.

他的目的是“在最终裁决中插入一个条款，规定虽然纽波特市议会是硬盘的所有者，而詹姆斯无权取回它，但他仍然是 8,000 个比特币的所有者。

"That would have given me same legal backing in order to launch a new crypto currency or using the 8,000 coins" to "create new assets".

“这会给我同样的法律支持，以便推出新的加密货币或使用 8,000 个硬币”来“创建新资产”。

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

然而，该委员会要求高等法院法官驳回豪厄尔斯先生的法律诉讼，该诉讼旨在要么访问该网站，要么获得 4.95 亿英镑的赔偿。

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

凯泽·KC 法官裁定，这一主张没有“合理的理由”，而且如果案件进入审判阶段，“没有成功的现实前景”。

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

在 12 月的听证会上，法院获悉豪厄尔斯先生是比特币的早期采用者，并成功开采了这种加密货币。

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.

随着丢失的数字钱包的价值不断增加，豪厄尔斯先生组建了一个专家团队，试图找到、恢复和访问硬盘。

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.

他曾多次请求委员会允许进入垃圾填埋场，甚至如果成功找到硬盘驱动器，他甚至愿意分享回收的比特币。

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.

豪厄尔斯先生在 2009 年以微不足道的成本开采了比特币，并表示当他丢弃硬盘时，他完全忘记了这件事。

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

随着 2024 年比特币的价值上涨超过 80%，豪厄尔斯先生现在估计他的 8,000 个比特币价值超过 6 亿英镑。

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

然而，代表该委员会的詹姆斯·古迪·KC (James Goudie KC) 辩称，根据现行法律，该硬盘一旦进入垃圾填埋场，就成为该委员会的财产。

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

他还指出，该委员会的环境许可证将禁止任何挖掘硬盘的行为。

Mr. Goudie argued that 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."

古迪先生认为，向当地社区捐赠 10% 的比特币的提议是在鼓励该委员会“快速而宽松地行事”，本质上是“签署参与行动的一部分”。

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."

法官在书面判决中表示：“我还认为，如果进入审判阶段，该索赔没有成功的现实前景，并且没有其他令人信服的理由继续审理此案。”

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.

该垃圾填埋场含有超过 140 万吨废物，但豪厄尔斯先生声称他已将硬盘的位置精确到了一个大约有 10 万吨废物的区域。

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

豪厄尔斯先生推测，到明年，他硬盘上的比特币可能价值 10 亿英镑。

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，豪厄尔斯在卡迪夫法院外接受 BBC Wales 采访时表示，他对自己的案件充满信心，并表示他准备将案件一路上诉至最高法院。