James Howells, who lost 8,000 BTC, is planning to raise $75 million by tokenizing 1,675 Bitcoin.
Newport’s landfills will soon be closed, allowing an end to the chance to recover from the lost drive.
He aims to purchase the landfill entirely, rather than seeking council permission again.
Moreover, the US film company will release a documentary about Howells’ Bitcoin Recovery Journey.
After delving into disappointment and red tape for over a decade, James Howells, famous for losing 8,000 Bitcoin, is making his final move. At the recent Bitcoin Conference 2025, Howells said he was preparing a $75 million plan that involves raising a part of his missing fate.
But time is running out. The landfill is currently facing closure and the council has not yet granted him access.
Man who lost 8,000 bitcoin
James Howells, a UK computer expert in Newport, Wales, accidentally dumped his hard drive in 2013. That hard drive contains 8,000 Bitcoin private keys worth hundreds of millions of dollars today.
For years he has fought to search for local landfills that Drive believes are buried, but city officials have rejected his request, citing environmental and safety concerns.
New plans to recover lost bitcoin
Now, as Newport City Council prepares to close the landfill forever, Howells says he is stripping away from time and patience. Instead of asking for permission again, he plans to raise $75 million by representing 1,675 of the 8,000 lost Bitcoins.
These tokens are sold as ordinals, a type of digital assets stored directly on the Bitcoin blockchain.
James Howells is still chasing the $8,000 BTC lost in the landfill, but there are new plans.
Tokenize 1,675 of these coins as ordinals. pic.twitter.com/qp01tztvhb
– TFTC (@TFTC21) May 28, 2025
This chunk represents about 21% of the lost coins, and the funds are directed towards purchasing the landfill entirely. “We’re going to make an offer they can’t refuse,” Howells said.
Lights, cameras, landfills
The Howells story is not just another code heading, but a modern treasure hunt with emotional interests. Recently, a US-based production company named Lebul has secured the exclusive right to turn his journey into a documentary. Filming is scheduled for summer and will be released in October or November.
Howells said he was “excited” to finally tell the story in his own words. “This is the first time we’ve seen the world show exactly what we want to do in a landfill,” he added.
“When people see this documentary, they don’t think this is a crazy plan. They’ll think it’s very achievable.”
