James Howells, the British man who famously lost access to eight,000 Bitcoin in a 2013 landfill accident, is setting the report straight. Taking to X (previously Twitter), Howells pushed back towards latest social media claims that he has deserted his search. He firmly denied the rumors and revealed a brand new technique to reclaim his misplaced fortune, now price roughly $923 million. Though he’s now not looking for permission from his native council to look the landfill, he’s removed from executed.
Howells Debunks Rumors, Plans To Flip His Misplaced $1 Billion In Bitcoin Into Ceiniog Coin
Within the put up shared on X, Howells confirmed he has not given up and slammed years of rejection from Newport City Council. For over a decade, he says he tried public proposals, authorized talks, mediation, and even provided over $30 million to get better the drive buried within the landfill. “$1 billion they usually ignored all of it,” he wrote. With no response from the council, he has determined to cease ready.
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As a substitute of continuous authorized fights or making extra provides, Howells introduced a brand new plan: to tokenize the whole pockets of 8,000 BTC into a brand new cryptocurrency known as Ceiniog Coin (INI). Named after an historical Welsh coin, Ceiniog will act as a Layer 2 token constructed on Bitcoin, matching 1:1 with satoshis, the smallest unit of Bitcoin. He plans to create 800 billion INI tokens, every immediately linked to the 8,000 BTC sitting on the lost drive.
In accordance with Howells, Ceiniog will launch in late 2025, powered by Bitcoin’s OP_RETURN performance. It should combine with Web3 tasks like Stacks, Runes, and Ordinals. With the ICO deliberate later this yr, Howells hopes the coin’s market worth will finally match that of the misplaced BTC, making him a theoretical billionaire, simply 8.34% away from that aim based mostly on current prices.
How He Misplaced The Bitcoin And What He’s Performed To Get It Again
The saga started in 2013, when James Howells, a British IT skilled, accidentally threw out a tough drive that contained the keys to eight,000 BTC, now price practically a billion {dollars}. Realizing the error too late, Howells spent the following 12 years trying to recover it.
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He submitted detailed restoration proposals, together with environmental clean-up plans and AI-powered landfill scans. He even provided to lift $75 million by promoting 21% of the Bitcoin’s worth to fund the excavation. His most up-to-date formal provide in July 2025, price between $33 million and $40 million, included a full buy of the landfill and a cleanup technique. Citing environmental risks and insecurity within the end result, the Newport Metropolis Council rejected the plan.
Now, as a substitute of digging by means of landfill waste, Howells is constructing Ceiniog Coin as his method of reclaiming what he believes is rightfully his. He plans to debut the coin at a reduction, letting early supporters purchase in earlier than the coin reaches its full worth. Over time, he hopes the token’s worth will naturally rise to replicate the price of 8,000 Bitcoin.
Featured picture from Unsplash, chart from TradingView.com