After a long search spanning 12 years, British man James Howells has decided to give up searching for a hard drive he once discarded, which contained 8000 BTC (approximately $920 million at a price of $115,000 per BTC).
Odaily's note: Although early British media reports mentioned 7,500 BTC, later media reports and Howells' descriptions consistently refer to 8,000 BTC, so this article will use the latter figure.
Accidentally Lost 8000 BTC
James Howells, born in Newport, Wales in the 1980s, was influenced by his mother who worked in microchip production and was exposed to computer technology early on. He became an internet user as a teenager, started assembling computers at 13, and eventually became a computer engineer.
As early as the end of 2008, Howells was introduced to Bitcoin knowledge. On February 15, 2009, Howells began mining Bitcoin using a Dell XPS laptop - The Daily Telegraph identified him as one of the earliest miners on the Bitcoin network, and The New Yorker pointed out that there were only five miners on the network at the time.
However, Howells' mining work did not last long, as his girlfriend constantly complained about the laptop's noise and heat during mining... In 2010, Howells accidentally spilled lemon water on the computer, which broke down. He then disassembled it and removed parts, most of which were thrown away or sold. The hard drive containing 8000 BTC private key information was left in a drawer.
Between June 20 and August 10, 2013, Howells mistakenly discarded the hard drive as waste. Howells later stated that his ex-girlfriend Hafina Eddy-Evans transported the garbage containing the hard drive to the landfill, but Eddy-Evans claimed Howells begged her to help dispose of these waste items, denying any fault, while Howells believed she was "subconsciously" responsible.
Howells recalled: "I didn't pay much attention to Bitcoin at the time because I was distracted. Later, I had several children and started renovating my house, and completely forgot about Bitcoin until it appeared in the news again."
In November 2013, The Guardian reported that the hard drive was likely buried 0.9-1.5 meters underground at the Docksway landfill in Newport, and Howells acknowledged in the interview that these BTC might have been lost forever.
The Newport City Council subsequently pointed out that the hard drive might be buried under 25,000 cubic meters (approximately 110,000-200,000 tons) of waste. The former landfill manager confirmed its location in Cell-2, a 15,000-ton landfill area (accumulated between August-November 2013), with a total landfill volume of 1.4 million tons.
Rising Coin Price, Search Hindered
As BTC prices continued to rise, Howells repeatedly attempted to search for the hard drive but was repeatedly denied by the local council for various reasons.
In December 2017, the Newport City Council rejected Howells' application to search the landfill, citing costs, environmental impact, equipment corrosion risks, and potential illegal "gold rush" behavior. In January 2021, Howells proposed donating 25% of these bitcoins (worth £52.5 million at the time) to the local 316,000 residents (£175 per person), but the council again refused, citing permit regulations.
A Newport City Council spokesperson told CNN that the local government has been contacted multiple times since 2013 about assisting in finding the allegedly Bitcoin-containing hard drive. The council did not reject the proposal but was not allowed to excavate the site - "The council has repeatedly told Mr. Howells that, according to our permit regulations, excavating the landfill is impossible, and the excavation itself would cause enormous environmental impact. The cost of excavating, storing, and processing waste from the landfill could be millions of pounds, with no guarantee of finding the hard drive or ensuring it would still function."
However, Howells remained convinced that the hard drive could still work, protected by its protective shell and the anti-corrosive cobalt layer on the glass platters - after all, with the value of these BTC rising like a rocket, no one could easily give up such a large fortune.
To obtain the council's landfill access permit, Howells developed multiple detailed plans to specifically address the council's concerns. During this period, a hedge fund was interested in funding Howells (with a 50/50 profit split), planning to locate the hard drive through municipal waste records and have a professional data recovery team handle it. Howells' budget for the 9-12 month excavation work was £5 million. In August 2022, with the help of some venture capital funds (with a 30% profit share), Howells upgraded the search plan to use AI mechanical arms to scan waste, deploy drones and Boston Dynamics robot dogs for security, and form an environmental team, with the budget increasing to £10-11 million.
To gain community support and obtain the council's search permit, Howells even proposed developing a community-owned mining facility powered by solar or wind energy on the landfill site.
On September 6, 2023, Howells, whose application had been repeatedly denied, had his legal team send an open letter to the Newport City Council, declaring his intention to file a lawsuit. The open letter demanded the council suspend landfill construction, claim £446 million in damages, and request a judicial review of the council's decision to deny site access. Two months later, his legal team again wrote to the council, requesting site access before going to court.
As of October 2024, the bitcoins on the hard drive were estimated to be worth $750 million. Howells ultimately sued the council with a claim of £495 million, but the council argued that according to waste disposal regulations, the hard drive's ownership now belongs to the municipality.
On January 9, 2025, the judge ultimately dismissed Howells' lawsuit, finding it "lacking reasonable grounds" and "having no prospect of success". Howells told the media he was "extremely disappointed" but also revealed a new plan - to issue a new cryptocurrency anchored to these unrecoverable bitcoins.
Unsuccessful Search, Alternative Path
Unable to obtain permission from the council, Howells ultimately chose to give up the search but selected an alternative potential path.
As early as May this year, Howells had disclosed on his personal X his intention to tokenize 21% of these 8000 BTC, with a target launch during TOKEN 2049 Singapore on October 1st, planning to raise $75 million... However, in the following months, Howells did not mention this again on his personal social media channels, suggesting the plan had likely been abandoned - after all, everyone knows the BTC is unlikely to be recovered, and trying to raise $75 million looks somewhat unseemly.
Early this morning, Howells again disclosed a new plan for tokenizing these BTC, planning to issue 800 billion Ceiniog Coin (INI), with a target launch by the end of the year. The token will be built on the Bitcoin network, supported by OP_RETURN, integrated with Stacks, Runes, and Ordinals, with each INI anchored to the value of 1 satoshi from this BTC...
Howells finally issued a rather passionate statement: "To all the senior and outstanding gatekeepers who have been blocking me for over a decade: You can block the gate! You can control the court! But you cannot stop blockchain! Cryptocurrency has won!"
However, considering the fact that the hard drive remains unrecovered, even if Howells describes it beautifully, INI in fact has no asset backing, and the future of this plan remains questionable.
Cryptocurrency may win, but Howells' token issuance will most likely not.
Click to learn about BlockBeats job openings
Welcome to join the official BlockBeats community:
Telegram subscription group: https://t.me/theblockbeats
Telegram communication group: https://t.me/BlockBeats_App
Official Twitter account: https://twitter.com/BlockBeatsAsia
