UK man who lost 8,000 $BTC in landfill says he hasn’t given up, pivots to tokenizing legal claim
James Howells, the man who has been hunting down his lost hard drive containing 8,000 $BTC , addressed circulating reports claiming that he has given up on his 12-year search.
In 2013, a British IT engineer accidentally threw out his hard drive containing Bitcoin he had mined a few years earlier, which ended up in a landfill site in Newport.
As bitcoin's value soared exponentially over the following years, Howells sought permission to excavate the landfill, only to have his request rejected by the regional council. Howells explored other options, such as using AI to help locate the hard drive. With today's bitcoin price of $114,231, Howell's lost hard drive is worth around $915 million.
Earlier this week, several social media posts emerged saying that Howells has officially ended his quest to recover the lost bitcoin.
"No, I have not 'given up," Howells told The Block via direct message on social media platform X. "The story going around is partially true, but not in the way it’s being framed."
Howells explained that on July 1, he made a formal offer of between $33 million and $40 million in value to acquire and excavate the Newport landfill site, sent to the Newport City Council's leader, legal team and a member of its parliament.
To raise funds for the acquisition, Howells had announced plans to launch an Ordinals-based token in October, representing 21% of the lost wallet's value.
Despite the sizable amount of the offer, Newport representatives have not replied or acknowledged the offer, according to Howells.
"So here’s where we stand — If they won’t sell, there’s no need for a token sale to buy the landfill," Howells said. "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 or its representatives."
