IT Worker Wants to Use Robotic Dogs to Help Recover 8,000 Bitcoins from Dump

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AN IT worker who accidentally threw away a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoins is planning to use two robotic dogs in his latest bid to recover them.

James Howells, from Wales, accidentally disposed of the hard drive in 2013 and it ended up in a landfill site near Newport.

He has made repeated attempts to persuade his local authority to allow him to search the site for the lost hard drive, but all have failed so far.

Now, he has created a £9 million ($11 million) business plan to excavate the site, which includes using the robotic dogs supplied by Boston Dynamics.

Speaking to Insider, Mr Howells said that his latest plan to recover his coins, which were worth £152 million ($184 million) at the time of writing, budgets for two ‘Spot’ dogs at a cost of £61,500 ($74,500) each.

He said they would be used for both security and to scan the ground in an attempt to locate the discarded hard drive.

The recovery plan also includes using human rubbish sorters in tandem with an artificial intelligence-powered conveyor belt to sort through the material during the excavation.

Expert worked on Columbia space shuttle disaster

According to AS.com, Mr Howells has assembled a team of experts, including an AI specialist, professional excavators and a waste management adviser.

One team member worked for a company tasked with recovering the black box from the Columbia space shuttle disaster. He said there is very little that would prevent the data – and Bitcoins – from being recovered if the hard drive can be found.

The plan has been created using funds from two venture capitalists. Mr Howells now needs to convince the council to allow him to go ahead.

However, he faces an uphill battle as previous attempts to scour the site have been rejected outright.

A spokesman for Newport City Council told insider that there was “nothing” Mr Howells could present to them to change their minds.

The spokesman cited the ecological risks and the fact that allowing the excavation to go ahead could breach the terms of their permit to operate the site.

Mr Howells has previously offered 25% of the market value of the coins to the council in return for allowing his search to go ahead, but this was also rejected.

As part of his latest plan he said he will give £50 ($60) worth of crypto to everyone in Newport if he recovers the coins, and set up a fund to support school leavers in the area start their own businesses.

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