Two hard drives looked similar. In his account to the court, Howells said he meant to discard an empty one during a home-office clear-out. The one that went to the landfill held a wallet file he needed.
What happened to James Howells’s hard drive?
Howells said he mined 8,000 BTC in 2009 and stored his wallet file on a laptop hard drive. He said the drive was discarded in August 2013 and ended up at the Docksway landfill in Newport, Wales. The judge assumed those details from the claim for the hearing on whether the case could proceed.
Howells sued Newport City Council in 2024, seeking the drive or permission for his team to excavate for it, among other remedies. On January 9, 2025, the High Court granted summary judgment to the council. The judge found that the council owned the discarded drive under the applicable waste law and that the claim had no realistic prospect of success.
What does a Bitcoin wallet backup protect?
The Bitcoin network records the funds. The private keys let a wallet authorize spending. In Howells’s account, the discarded drive held the wallet file containing the key he needed.
Many modern wallets use recovery words. Older software may use a wallet file, and other setups can require a passphrase, multiple backup shares or additional recovery details. Follow the instructions for your exact wallet. If a company holds the keys for you, find its account recovery process.
How to check your wallet backup before you need it
Do the check while your wallet still works, especially before replacing or resetting a device.
- Identify the wallet and its recovery method using its official documentation. Check whether recovery also requires a passphrase, wallet file or multiple backup shares.
- Store the required recovery material in a private, secure place away from the device. Plan for theft, fire or loss when choosing where to keep it.
- Use the wallet’s official backup-check feature if available. Trezor, for example, documents a dry run that checks the backup without wiping the device. Follow the official instructions for your model.
- Keep recovery words out of websites, chats and support tickets. Enter them only through the recovery procedure documented by your wallet maker.
- If the check fails and the wallet still works, keep it accessible. Follow the maker’s instructions for moving funds to a wallet with a verified backup before retiring the old device.
The seed-phrase guide explains how recovery words differ from a device PIN and what to check if your wallet uses an additional passphrase.
Sources & further reading
General payment information and purchase-specific details serve different purposes. Review the current offer and terms before proceeding.
- High Court judgment — Howells v Newport City Council [2025] EWHC 22 (Ch)
- Trezor — Wallet backup and dry-run recovery
Original Fiat2Bitcoin guide. Examples are illustrative; they are not live quotes or customer transactions. How we prepare our guides.
