James Howells, a Welsh software engineer, has been denied the right to excavate a landfill in search of his hard drive, which is believed to contain 8,000 Bitcoin worth approximately $676 million. The U.K. Court of Appeals deemed his request had no real prospect of success, marking the end of his legal options inside the UK system. In 2013, Howells lost his hard drive when it was mistakenly thrown away, and the value of those coins has skyrocketed since then, peaking at over 7000% compared to its original worth. He plans to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, expressing his dissatisfaction with the ruling. The landfill is expected to close in the next few years, complicating matters further as the window to recover the hard drive narrows. Howells' situation highlights the challenges faced by cryptocurrency holders concerning the custody and safety of their assets.

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