British Engineer Who Lost Hard Drive with 8,000 Bitcoin Now Worth $915M Ends 12-Year Landfill Search, Shifts to Token Strategy
James Howells, the British IT engineer known for his decade-long search for a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoin, has dismissed reports claiming he has ended his efforts to recover the cryptocurrency—now worth around $915 million at current prices.
Howells made headlines back in 2013 after accidentally discarding the hard drive, which was later buried in a landfill in Newport, Wales. Since then, he has made multiple efforts to excavate the site but has consistently been denied permission by the Newport City Council.
“I Have Not Given Up,” Says Howells
Responding to viral social media claims that he had abandoned his search, Howells told The Block via direct message on X (formerly Twitter),
“No, I have not ‘given up.’ The story going around is partially true, but not in the way it’s being framed.”
He clarified that while he is no longer pursuing the purchase or excavation of the Newport landfill, this does not mean he has given up on reclaiming the value of the Bitcoin stored on the missing hard drive.
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Multi-Million Dollar Offer Ignored by Council
Howells revealed that on July 1, 2025, he made a formal offer valued between $33 million and $40 million to acquire and remediate the landfill.
The offer was submitted to Newport City Council’s leader, legal team, and a local MP — but has received no response.
“If they won’t sell, there’s no need for a token sale to buy the landfill.
I am no longer pursuing the purchase of the landfill, I am no longer pursuing excavation or remediation, I am no longer pursuing dialogue with the council.”
Pivot to Tokenization with Ceiniog Coin
Despite the roadblocks, Howells is shifting his strategy. Rather than physically recovering the hard drive, he now plans to tokenize his legal ownership of the 8,000 BTC.
The upcoming project is called Ceiniog Coin (INI) — a Bitcoin Layer 2 smart token designed for fast, scalable, Web3 payments.
Howells explained that the token will be launched after October, utilizing a Bitcoin protocol update that expands data capacity via the removal of the 80-byte cap on the OP_RETURN opcode. An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is planned later in the year.
“The intention is to bootstrap the Ceiniog ecosystem and launch a successful high-speed, high-scale, fast-confirmation, payment-focused Web3 environment secured by the Bitcoin blockchain and backed by 8,000 BTC,” said Howells.
Still the Legal Owner of the Bitcoin
Although the physical drive is unrecovered, Howells maintains that he is the legal owner of the 8,000 BTC, citing a High Court ruling from January 2025.
“The Council may own the hard drive, but they do not own the digital contents of that hard drive.
The 8,000 Bitcoin are legally mine in law — the balance of which can be verified by anyone worldwide at any time,” Howells emphasized.
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The post British Engineer Who Lost Hard Drive with 8,000 Bitcoin Now Worth $915M Ends 12-Year Landfill Search, Shifts to Token Strategy appeared first on iHarare News.
