Twelve years after accidental disposal of a hard drive containing 8,000 bitcoin (Btc), James Howells turned his back on his long efforts to dig it from a Newport landfill. Instead, he plans to launch a new token inspired by lost coins.
Howells, which includes the search Legal fight.
Instead of trying to dig a stash, aims to —on the story of lost bitcoin in a Defi token -symbolic “vaulting” what is no longer accessible.
The lost hard drive that launched a 12-year hunting wealth
In 2013, Howells made the mistake of throwing the drive while riding his office in Newport, South Wales. He has Mined the 8,000 btc When each coin costs less than $ 1. Today, the lost stash costs nearly $ 905 million, and his story has become a cautionary tale for anyone who cares for themselves in their crypto.
Over the years, Howells has suggested a set of solutions, from funding an excavation with private capital to suggest buying the Newport Landfill.
In March 2025, the UK Court of Appeal rejected Howells’ bid for a Allow to dig a landfillTogether with Judge Christopher Nugee who decides “there is no real prospect of success” in the case.
In Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas, Howells floated a token based on the Ordinals representing 21% of the purse value to fund a potential excavation, with tokenholders earning a cut if the recovery succeeded. That is ideaAlso, was that -Shelf after the city remained silent.
“They had the opportunity to get involved and organize with me in the desired terms for 10 years,” Howells told Cointelegraph. “What else do you want me to try? Will I raise an army and march to the king himself?”
Using the excavation door closed, Howells said he was giving up on completing the excavation, but not to Bitcoin.
Related: Self-custody compared to crypto centralized cards: freedom or comfort?
‘The Ultimate Vault’
Using the door to closed the excavation, Howells was pivoting again. Instead of recovering 8,000 BTCs buried in a landfill, Howells told Cointelegraph that he plans to launch a defi-focus layer-2 network developed in Bitcoin.
The token is unable to back by spending on Bitcoin, but by the idea of lost coins, making the lost hard drive a symbolic vault. “We don’t have to access the 8,000 purse of Bitcoin because the new token is a representation of its – that’s the whole point,” he said. “The landfill becomes a vault that no one can open, but everyone sees it.”
However, not everyone shares this perspective. Harry Donnelly, founder and CEO of the circuit, told Cointelegraph that there was a “very low chance” to recover the funds.
“You need to increase the very low chance of recovering Bitcoin by a low chance that the token will be recognized as a valid claim, and then by the high amount of Bitcoin. Leaves some remaining amounts, but that is not the exchange of it. It will trade in the narrative,” he said. “It’s better viewed as a memecoin than a real investment.”
However, Howells’ continued saga has not been lost in the recreational industry. In April, he signed A deal with the Los Angeles production company Lebul, who gives exclusive rights to adapt his story to a docueries, podcast, and social content.
The project, titled “The Buried Bitcoin,” aims to bring one of the most obnoxiously lost-lost talents to screen-even if the hard drive has gone forever.
Hall of Flame: NBA Star Tristan Thompson miss $ 32B in Bitcoin by taking a $ 82m Cash Contract
