The man who accidentally threw away his hard drive lost Bitcoin worth 569 million pounds.

39-year-old James Howells has sued the municipality to search for his hard drive, which was accidentally thrown away by his former partner and contains the password for Bitcoin worth £569 million. Howells has been trying to find the hard drive, which he believes is in a landfill owned by Newport City Council, for years.

Howells stated that he had to resort to legal action after his attempts to negotiate with the municipality were unsuccessful. In the case, which will have its first hearing next month, the municipality's rejection of his application will be evaluated. Howells hopes that if the application is denied, a two-week full hearing will take place within six months.

Howells said, "Even though it was thrown away by my former partner without my permission and consent, the digital ownership of the hard drive still belongs to me. I either have the right to retrieve my property at my own expense, or if the landowner denies this, they should pay the value of my property."

If granted excavation permission, Howells has pledged to donate 10% of the money obtained for the development of the area, stating, "The municipality is living in the dark ages. If they had foresight, Newport could have been like Las Vegas or Dubai by now. But they did not understand cryptocurrency and refused to learn."

A spokesperson for Newport City Council stated, "Mr. Howells has been contacted multiple times since 2013. He has been informed that it is not possible to excavate under our environmental permit and that such activities would cause significant harm to the environment. The authority to operate on the site belongs solely to the municipality. Mr. Howells' claim is baseless, and the municipality is resisting it."