In 2013, James Howells, an IT engineer, accidentally threw away a hard drive containing the private key to 8,000 Bitcoins. Back then, the digital coins were worth around $8 million. Today, their value has soared to nearly $950 million. After 12 years of searching, Howells has now given up his efforts to recover the drive from a landfill.
Howells mined the Bitcoins in 2009, when each coin was worth just a few cents. He saved the private key—the only way to access the Bitcoin—on a laptop hard drive. During a routine cleanup, he mistakenly discarded the drive. His then-partner, Hafina Eddy-Evans, took the trash to Newport’s Docksway Landfill, unaware of what it contained.
As Bitcoin’s value climbed over the years, Howells launched a campaign to recover the lost fortune. He proposed high-tech solutions, including drones and robotic arms, to search the landfill without damaging the environment. He offered to fund the project himself and share up to 30% of any recovered Bitcoin with the Newport City Council and local community.
But his efforts were repeatedly blocked. The council cited environmental concerns, such as the risk of toxic gas leaks and water contamination. UK law also considers anything in a landfill the property of the site, making ownership of the drive legally unclear.
In 2025, Howells sued the council for £495 million ($647 million), claiming the city prevented him from recovering his property. A High Court judge dismissed the case, saying it had “no realistic prospect” of success. The court also said the hard drive, buried under more than 110,000 tons of waste, likely belonged to the council and was probably damaged beyond repair.
Howells later offered to buy the landfill outright, but this idea was also rejected. With all legal options exhausted, he has now ended the search. “I’m not giving up the fight,” he said, hinting at a new project—a cryptocurrency inspired by his lost Bitcoin.
His story will be told in a documentary titled “The Buried Bitcoin: The Real-Life Treasure Hunt of James Howells,” which is set to release in late 2025. Produced by LEBUL, a Los Angeles-based company, the film will use CGI to recreate the journey and the early days of Bitcoin mining.
Experts warn that without the seed phrase or backup key, the Bitcoin is almost certainly lost forever. The technology needed to crack a private key does not exist, and likely won’t for decades—if ever.
Bitcoin’s value continues to rise, and some experts believe Howells’ 8,000 Bitcoins could be worth $8 billion by 2030, making this one of the most expensive tech mistakes in history.
