After losing 8,000 bitcoins—worth nearly $900 million—in a landfill, James Howells is abandoning his fight to recover the funds.
James Howells and his lost Bitcoin hard drive is the stuff legends are made of. Bro is finally closing the most expensive chapter in crypto history. After twelve long years, two major court battles and one very stubborn landfill, the Newport, Wales engineer is ending his search. You might remember him. He is the one who accidentally lost 8,000 bitcoins…now worth roughly $883 million. He has officially waved the white flag on recovering them. But he’s turning his loss into a new hustle. Let us recap.
Howells’ story has been digital legend since 2013, when he claims his ex-girlfriend mistakenly threw away a hard drive holding his Bitcoin wallet. For the record, I never thought was an accident, but that is my POV. Since then, he’s been battling Newport City Council for permission to dig up the landfill where he believes it lies buried under tons of waste. His efforts has not been cheap – $149,000.
Earlier this year, Howells made one last Hail Mary. He made a multi-million-dollar offer to buy the entire landfill before the council closes it in 2026. But, for some reason, the council wasn’t having it. It could be the $149,000 in legal costs he owes them. “We will not be spending any more of our officers’ time on this issue until that payment is made,” the council told the BBC. Damn.
Howells fired back, “If they don’t wish to sell the site, they should say so clearly. But this tactic of using unrelated debts to shut down a lawful offer—one that’s in the public interest—raises serious questions, not just legally but morally.” I actually agree with him. I knew he would never find that drive, but now he’s got a new drive.
Ceiniog Coin. Instead of trying to dig up his missing millions, Howells plans to back a new cryptocurrency. Will, this work… somehow linking this new coin to the value of his legendary lost wallet? Seems so.
Crypto expert Josh Riddict told the BBC the idea actually makes sense in principle. “Since James’ wallet is publicly known and the blockchain is there for all to see, it’s easy evidence that these 8,000 coins do indeed exist,” Riddict said. “The need to readily access them to ‘prove’ their existence simply isn’t required. Ultimately, the market will decide how valuable they deem this new coin offering to be.”
After over a decade of digging, Howells now says he’s ready to move forward. Good luck with Ceiniog Coin, bro. I hope you get even a fraction of that $883 million!
Damn…
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