James Howells accidentally dumped one of his hard drives in 2013. This contains approximately 8000 bitcoins, which are currently worth 180 million euros in total. Now the 37-year-old wants to spend €11m to find his hard drive.

According to Howells, the hard drive is in a landfill near his hometown of Newport. The man asked the municipality several times to enter the landfill, so that he could dig it himself. However, the municipality refused, because the exploration would entail many environmental risks, such as leakage of harmful gases.

However, the Welshman did not give up. Howells has now raised €11 million through investors to find the disk. This money will be spent on “experts who can dig up the landfill in an efficient and environmentally friendly manner.” Investors will save €11 million once Howells receives the go-ahead from the municipality of Newport.

If the drive is found, the Welshman and investors want to put ten percent of the bitcoin on the hard drive to turn Newport into a “cryptohop.” “We have a whole list of good things we’d like to do for society,” Howells says. against the BBC. “One of the things we would like to do in the landfill, once it is cleaned and cleaned, is put in a power plant with a few wind turbines. In addition, we want to create a digital mining company that uses renewable energy to mine bitcoin.” Mines for the residents of Newport.

Howells also wants to give every resident of the city €60 transferred in bitcoin and set up cash registers at all stores where cryptocurrency can be paid.

However, the Newport City Council does not accept the man’s offer. A BBC spokesman said: “We have legal duties that we must fulfill in managing the landfill.” “Part of that is looking at the environmental risks to the landfill and the wider environment. Mr. Howells’ proposals pose significant risks that we cannot accept and consider.”