#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, citing environmental risks. Howells accidentally discarded the hard drive containing the Bitcoin in 2013, which cost only a few cents to mine in 2009. Despite Howells presenting a detailed plan involving robots and drones to search the landfill, the judge ruled that the case had "no realistic prospect of success" at trial. Newport City Council has consistently refused access to the landfill, fearing that excavation would cause irreversible environmental damage. Judge Keyser KC found that Howells' plan posed significant risks, including environmental pollution, threats to the health of local residents, and damage to the landfill's structure. As a result, the court ultimately dismissed Howells' application, concluding that the plan to retrieve the Bitcoin was not worth the risks involved.