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A UK man is trying to sue his local council over a Bitcoin hard drive buried in a tip over 10 years ago.
James Howells claimed that a Bitcoin wallet on a hard drive would now be worth £600 million (over $1.1 billion), the BBC announced.
He claimed that his girlfriend accidentally dropped the hard drive in 2013.
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Authorities in Newport County, Wales buried it in a landfill, and Howells wants access to the site to retrieve it.
During a hearing to determine whether Howells can continue to sue the council, the council’s lawyer James Goudie told the judge that Howells offered to donate 10 percent of Bitcoin to the community which was a bribe, the BBC reports.
He said the council had no obligation to dig up and too much time had passed for Howells’ claim about the hard drive to be justified.
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He also asserted that property dumped in landfills is considered the property of the council, and that environmental protection regulations prohibit excavation.
In contrast, Howell’s lawyer Dean Armstrong denied that Howells had tried to bribe the council and that he had the right to access his property, according to the BBC.
”We are asking, clearly and sincerely, for a declaration of rights over the ownership of Bitcoin,” he said.
The judge reserved his decision for a later date.
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