#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 Newport City Council to allow him access to the landfill to dig. However, the court found that the plan posed significant environmental risks and had "no realistic prospect of success" at trial. Judge Keyser KC noted that digging up the landfill would cause irreversible damage to the environment and could release harmful substances. Additionally, even if the hard drive were found, there is no guarantee that the data could be recovered. Howells' plan was also opposed by Newport City Council, who argued that digging up the landfill would be disruptive to local residents and could pose safety risks. As a result, the court ultimately decided to reject Howells' application, finding his treasure hunt plan unfeasible.