After 12 Years of Failed Attempts, the Man Who Lost His Hard Drive Containing $742M in #bitcoin Finally Ends His Search

A Newport man’s quest to recover $742 million in Bitcoin from a landfill has captivated the world for over a decade. Legal battles, high-tech plans, and a lost fortune buried under tons of waste make this a tale like no other. Now, a documentary brings his relentless journey to light.

James Howells, an IT worker from Newport, South Wales, once held a fortune that many can only dream of—8,000 Bitcoins. Back in 2013, those Bitcoins were worth just $8 million, a significant sum but not enough to anticipate the explosive rise in cryptocurrency values.

However, Howells’ misstep in disposing of the hard drive containing the private keys for those coins has now transformed into one of the most infamous stories of lost wealth in the digital age. Now, after more than a decade of tireless effort, he’s finally walking away from the search, with the Bitcoins still buried somewhere beneath a mountain of trash.