A man who said he threw away a computer hard drive with £149 million of Bitcoin wants to start a £10 million hunt through 100,000 tonnes of rubbish at a landfill site - if the local council gives him permission.
James Howells, 36, chucked out by mistake the hard drive in 2013 when clearing out his office and claims that it contains Bitcoin with the value now at nearly £150 million.
Up until now Newport City Council has refused his requests to search the site but this time he hopes they will agree as he plans to tackle it with robot dogs and using a scanner powered by artificial intelligence.
The council has previously reportedly said that a dig would cause too much environmental damage but Mr Howells says that his latest plan would keep that to a minimum and he wants to put a solar energy production site on top of it afterwards.
It comes with Bitcoin being valued considerably higher than its value in 2013 despite a fall by more than two-thirds this year.
Venture capitalists are offering Mr Howells the £10 million to finance the dig which will even see robotic dogs patrolling the site at night to ensure it is safe and prevent intruders.
If the plan is successful then Mr Howells would keep 30% of the Bitcoin value and split the rest between the investors, workers involved, expenses and local Newport causes.
He told Insider : "We're trying to achieve this project to a full commercial standard."
Previously Newport Council said that they had been contacted on numerous occasions by Mr Howells but was unable to help.
A spokeswoman said: "The cost of digging up the landfill, storing and treating the waste could run into millions of pounds - without any guarantee of either finding it or it still being in working order.
"Even if we were able to agree to his request, there is the question of who would meet the cost if the hard drive was not found or was damaged to such an extent that the data could not be recovered.
"We have, therefore, been clear that we cannot assist him in this matter."
