#UK court halts treasure hunt plan#

A UK court has rejected IT engineer James Howells' application to search a Newport landfill for a hard drive containing $735 million worth of Bitcoin. Howells accidentally discarded the hard drive containing the Bitcoin in 2013 and has been trying to persuade local authorities to allow him to excavate. However, the court ruled that the excavation would pose significant environmental risks and that there was "no realistic prospect of success" in the trial. Newport City Council has also consistently refused access to the landfill, arguing that the excavation would cause irreversible damage to the environment. Judge Keyser KC noted that even if Howells found the hard drive, there was no guarantee that the data could be recovered, and the cost of the excavation would far outweigh the potential reward. As a result, the court ultimately decided to reject Howells' application, deeming his treasure hunt plan unfeasible.