The judge stopped the attempt to extract millions of dollars in Bitcoin from the trash

A man’s decade-long battle to recover his £600m bitcoin fortune (nearly $750m) has been stopped by a judge.

39-year-old James Howells In 2013, a legal case began in Newport, Wales after a Bitcoin hard drive was lost in a dumpster. BBC reported.

Since his misfortune, Howells has offered to fully fund the mining process and share 25% of the Bitcoin recovered with Newport City Council.

But the city turned down the request, starting a decade-long saga of trying to recover their lost encryption.

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On Thursday, the outlet reported, Circuit Commercial Judge Wells Judge Keyser denied the Howells’ request for a permit to excavate.

In his ruling, Keyser said Howells had no merit in bringing the claim and had no prospect of success if the case proceeded to a full trial.

“I think that the list of claims does not show any reasonable grounds for filing this case. I also think that the claim will not have a realistic prospect of success if it goes to trial and there is no other compelling reason. It has been dismissed by the court,” he said.

The judge said he accepted the council’s argument that he owned the hard drive and Howells was not entitled to it.

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“In my judgment, the defendant’s (council’s) contention is correct and fully answers the questions raised,” he said.

Howells told a British newspaper that he was “very upset” at the verdict, saying it felt like a “kick in the teeth”.

“The case being presented at the first trial does not even give me an opportunity to explain myself or to express any chance of justice,” he said. “There was so much that could be explained in the whole experiment and I was waiting for it.”

He added: “For the last 12 years he has been trying to engage with Newport City Council in every way humanly possible”.

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“It’s not about greed, I’m happy to share the income, but nobody in power will have a good conversation with me,” he said.

“This decision took everything from me and I had nothing,” he said. “This great British system of injustice is striking again.”