James Howells, the British man famous for losing 8,000 Bitcoin in a landfill accident in 2013, is clarifying the situation. On X, Howells has refuted recent claims on social media that he has given up the search. He firmly denies the rumors and reveals a new strategy to recover the lost asset, now valued at approximately $923 million. Although he no longer seeks permission from the local council to search the landfill, he has not yet stopped.

Howells Dismisses Rumors, Plans to Turn His 1 Billion USD Lost Bitcoin into Ceiniog Coin

In a post shared on X, Howells asserted that he has not given up and harshly criticized years of rejection from the Newport City Council. For over a decade, he stated that he had tried public proposals, legal negotiations, mediation, and even offered over $30 million to recover the buried drive in the landfill. "1 billion dollars and they have ignored everything," he wrote. Due to not receiving feedback from the council, he decided not to wait any longer.

Instead of continuing legal battles or making further proposals, Howells announced a new plan: to tokenize the entire 8,000 BTC into a new cryptocurrency called Ceiniog Coin (INI). Named after an ancient coin from Wales, Ceiniog will function as a Layer 2 token built on Bitcoin, pegged 1:1 with satoshi, the smallest unit of Bitcoin. He plans to create 800 billion INI tokens, each directly linked to the 8,000 BTC located in the lost drive.

According to Howells, Ceiniog will launch by the end of 2025, supported by Bitcoin's OP_RETURN functionality. It will integrate with Web3 projects like Stacks, Runes, and Ordinals. With an ICO planned for later this year, Howells hopes the market value of this coin will eventually match the value of the lost BTC, making him a theoretical billionaire, just 8.34% away from that goal based on the current price.

How He Lost Bitcoin and What He Did to Get It Back

The story began in 2013 when James Howells, a British IT expert, accidentally threw away a hard drive containing the keys to 8,000 BTC, now worth nearly a billion dollars. Realizing the mistake too late, Howells spent the next 12 years trying to recover it.

He has submitted detailed recovery proposals, including plans for environmental cleanup and AI scanning of the landfill. He even proposed raising $75 million by selling 21% of the Bitcoin value to fund the excavation. His most recent formal proposal in July 2025, valued between $33 and $40 million, included purchasing the entire landfill and a cleanup strategy. Citing environmental risks and a lack of confidence in the outcome, the Newport City Council rejected this plan.

Now, instead of digging through trash, Howells is building Ceiniog Coin as a way to reclaim what he believes is rightfully his. He intends to launch the coin at a discounted price, allowing early supporters to buy in before the coin reaches its full value. He hopes the value of this coin will naturally increase in line with the value of 8,000 Bitcoin.