#UK court halts treasure hunt plan#
Hot Topic Overview
Overview
A UK court has halted a plan to search a landfill for $750 million worth of Bitcoin. IT engineer James Howells accidentally discarded a hard drive in 2013 that contained Bitcoin he mined in 2009, when the cryptocurrency was worth only a few cents. Howells has been trying to persuade Newport City Council to allow him access to the landfill to search for the drive, but the council has refused, citing environmental risks. UK judge Keyser KC ultimately dismissed Howells' application, finding that the case had "no realistic prospect of success" at trial.
Ace Hot Topic Analysis
Analysis
A UK court has rejected IT engineer James Howells' application to search a 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 ruled 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 the chances of successfully finding the hard drive were extremely slim. Howells' plan was also opposed by Newport City Council, who argued that digging up the landfill would severely impact the lives of local residents. Although Howells offered to cover all costs and promised to take environmentally friendly measures, the court ultimately sided with environmental protection and the public interest, rejecting his application.
Public Sentiment · Discussion Word Cloud
Public Sentiment
Discussion Word Cloud
Classic Views
Environmental risks are the main obstacle. The court believes that there are uncontrollable environmental risks in excavating the landfill, so it rejected the application.
Balancing economic value and environmental risks. The court believes that even if the value is huge, the environmental risks brought by excavating the landfill are unacceptable, so it rejected the application.
Lack of feasibility in legal proceedings. The court believes that the case "has no realistic chance of success" in the trial, so it rejected the application.
The possibility of finding Bitcoin is negligible. Even if the landfill is excavated, the possibility of finding the hard drive is extremely low, so the court believes that the plan lacks practical significance.