$950 million lost bitcoin: James Howells gives up landfill search after 12 years

James Howells, a computer engineer from Wales, has officially ended his 12-year quest to recover a hard drive containing the private keys to 8,000 Bitcoin (BTC)—now estimated to be worth nearly $950 million.

Howells mistakenly threw out the device during a home clean-up in June 2013, when the Bitcoin it held was valued at around $63 million. It was believed to be buried deep in a Newport landfill, but the local city council repeatedly refused excavation requests, citing both environmental and financial concerns.



The landfill site itself is reportedly around 15 meters deep and holds approximately 200,000 tons of waste, making any recovery operation extremely difficult. Howells filed a $620 million damages lawsuit against the city council in late 2024, but the case was dismissed in January 2025.

Even after proposing to give 30% of any recovered Bitcoin to the city and its residents, regulatory hurdles and practical barriers ultimately led Howells to abandon the effort. His story underscores the “irreversible nature of early Bitcoin losses” and the enormous challenges of recovering lost digital assets from physical storage.