James Howells, a British man from Newport, Wales, is fighting to recover a hard drive he accidentally threw away in 2013. This hard drive contains 8,000 Bitcoins, worth around $538 million today. Back in 2009, Howells mined the cryptocurrency, but a simple mistake has turned into a decade-long saga.

Howells believes the hard drive is buried in a Newport landfill. Despite repeated efforts to gain permission to excavate the site, the local council has refused due to environmental concerns. In a bold move, Howells is now suing the council for £495 million ($644 million), reflecting Bitcoin’s peak value earlier this year.

To make his case stronger, Howells has even offered the council 10% of the hard drive’s value—around £41 million ($58 million)—if they allow the excavation. He has also assembled a professional team, including a former landfill expert, to carry out the search. The plan involves a $13 million excavation project, expected to take up to three years.

The case will be heard in court this December. Howells hopes the legal pressure will push the council to reconsider his proposal. “I just want the chance to find it,” Howells said. “The value could be life-changing for so many people.”

Will he get his treasure back? Only time will tell.