Twelve years ago, James Howells made one of the most expensive mistakes in crypto history — accidentally throwing away a hard drive holding 8,000 Bitcoin. That drive, now buried somewhere under the Newport landfill in Wales, is worth nearly $1 billion.
But here’s the twist:
He hasn’t given up. He’s just changing the game.
🔄 New Plan, Same Mission: Recovering $923M in Lost Bitcoin
In a new statement shared on X (formerly Twitter), Howells shot down fresh rumors that he had abandoned the search. "I haven’t quit — I’ve just stopped asking permission," he declared, after years of frustration with the Newport City Council.
For over a decade, Howells tried everything from legal negotiations to public offers — including one proposal worth $30 million — all in hopes of getting access to the landfill. But the council refused every time.
🪙 Enter Ceiniog Coin: Bitcoin’s Lost Twin?
Instead of continuing the legal tug-of-war, Howells is now taking a bold Web3 approach. He’s creating a new cryptocurrency called Ceiniog Coin (INI) — a Layer 2 token built on top of Bitcoin and backed 1:1 with satoshis, Bitcoin’s smallest unit.
Inspired by Wales' ancient currency "Ceiniog," Howells plans to mint 800 billion INI tokens, all representing the exact 8,000 BTC lost in the landfill.
INI will use Bitcoin’s OP_RETURN function for transparency, and aims to plug into Bitcoin’s expanding ecosystem — with support for Stacks, Runes, and Ordinals. An ICO is scheduled for later this year, and the full launch is expected by the end of 2025.
His goal?
For the market to value Ceiniog Coin equal to the lost BTC — effectively making him a billionaire again, without digging through garbage.
🧾 A Decade of Rejections, Millions Offered — Still No Access
Since that fateful mistake in 2013, Howells has made global headlines. He’s proposed advanced excavation plans using AI and environmental cleanup strategies. His latest attempt in July 2025 included buying the entire landfill — but even that was shut down by the city council due to “environmental risks.”
Frustrated but undeterred, he now believes Ceiniog Coin is not just a workaround, but a revolution.
> “If I can’t recover the hard drive physically, I’ll do it digitally,” Howells hinted. “It’s about reclaiming what’s mine, one way or another.”
💡 Why This Matters
This isn’t just about one man’s lost Bitcoin. It’s about innovation born out of frustration — and how blockchain can turn loss into opportunity.
By tokenizing his missing fortune, Howells is tapping into the future of Bitcoin L2s, utility tokens, and decentralized finance. If Ceiniog Coin succeeds, it might become a case study in how to rebuild value — even from a mistake buried under 12 years of dirt.