In the world of cryptocurrencies, few stories have captured global attention like that of James howells, a computer engineer from Newport, Wales, who has become the protagonist of an odyssey as tragic as it is fascinating. It all began in 2013, when, during a routine cleaning, Howells mistakenly threw away a hard drive containing the private keys to 8.000 bitcoins that he had mined in 2009, at the dawn of this cryptocurrency. At that time, the value of those bitcoins was insignificant, just a few thousand euros. However, over the years and the explosion in the value of bitcoin, that small device lost in a municipal landfill has been transformed into a treasure today valued at approximately 783 million euros (as of March 2025), making this anecdote the viral story of the year.
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Howells was an early adopter of bitcoin, mining it on his personal computer when few believed in its potential. In 2009, the process was rudimentary and accessible, and in just one week he managed to accumulate 7.500 bitcoins (although he claims 8.000). After saving them on a hard drive, the device was forgotten until, through carelessness — attributed in part to his ex-partner, according to some reports — it ended up in a garbage bin and, later, in the Newport landfill. By the time Howells realized his mistake, bitcoin was already beginning to gain traction, and its value was rapidly rising. What began as a loss of a few thousand euros became an unattainable fortune buried under tons of waste.
Since then, Howells has spent more than a decade trying to recover his treasure. The Newport landfill, a site of some 110.000 tons of trash, has become the epicentre of his obsession. He has proposed ambitious plans, including a multimillion-pound excavation funded by investors, with a team of experts including specialists in data recovery (one of them linked to NASA), waste management and even artificial intelligence to optimise the search. He has offered the local council up to 25% of the profits – tens of millions of euros – for community projects, but the authorities have consistently rejected his requests, citing environmental risks and the improbability of finding the disk in such a vast place.
BUY BITCOINThe story took a legal turn in 2024, when Howells sued Newport City Council for nearly €600m in damages, based on the peak value of his bitcoins that year. However, in January 2025, a judge at the Commercial Court of Wales dismissed the case, ruling that there was “no realistic prospect” of success. Despite this setback, Howells is not giving up. He has explored options such as buying the entire landfill or appealing the decision with the help of artificial intelligence, which he uses to prepare his defence before the Court of Appeal. “This is my job now,” he said in a recent interview with the BBC, underlining his determination.
