The price of Bitcoin recently reached a record high, rising to over $80,000 (£62,000) per unit following Donald Trump’s victory in the US election.
Mr Howells speculated that, by next year, the Bitcoin on his hard drive could be worth £1bn.
The landfill itself holds over 1.4 m tonnes of waste, but Mr Howells said he had narrowed the hard drive’s location to an area consisting of 100,000 tonnes.
“There is an object in Newport worth almost $750m (£593m) and Newport council don’t want to look for it,” said Mr Howells.
“I am still willing to avert court action and have a sensible and amicable conversation with Newport City Council, but there has to be no messing around. They have to come and speak to me.”
A Newport City Council spokesperson said: “Mr. Howells has brought a civil claim against the council for a sum in the region of £0.5bn.
“The claim has no merit, and the council is vigorously resisting it.”
