James Howell mined 8,000 bitcoins in 2009 and accidentally dumped the hard drive containing his BTC wallet in 2013.
Howell spent over a decade trying to recover his hard drive, but faced many obstacles.
Howell is committed to restoring lost fortunes and hopes for the support of the community and council.
In the early days of Bitcoin, a young pioneer named James Howell mined thousands of coins when few people believed in their worth. A few years later, a costly mistake left his digital wealth out of reach.
Let’s uncover the story behind this lost treasure and the challenge of restoring it.
Early Bitcoin Pioneer: James Howell’s Journey
In early 2009, James Howell was one of the first five people to run Bitcoin software, mining around 8,000 Bitcoin. He stopped mining at one point, and in 2013 he accidentally dumped his hard drive with a Bitcoin wallet.
From early detection to legal disability
In the summer of 2013, when Bitcoin was around $40, James first noticed that the value of the lost wallet in Bitcoin’s first major Bull Run was rising. He approached Newport City Council and landfill operators, informing them of nearly $10 million on hard drives buried at the site. Despite many attempts to restore it, he faced legal obstacles and was denied access by the council.
Is recovery still possible?
While the hard drive casings may be damaged due to environmental factors, experts believe that internal digital information can still be obtained using advanced forensic technology.
James Howell worked with the Newport City Council to spend more than a decade recovering a lost Bitcoin hard drive. Despite offering a 25% share, an official offer of over £25 million, bringing in a recovery team of experts and pursuing legal action, his efforts have been repeatedly ignored or rejected.
For over 12 years, I have tried all my involvement with the Newport City Council.
• Public proposal
•percentage
•arbitration
•Legal measures
• and an official offer of over £25 millionFor $1 billion, they ignored it all.
no response. There is no logic. There is no leadership.
They want me to give up, pic.twitter.com/z9iwrurojd
– James Howelzy (@howelzy) August 4, 2025
James has not given up yet and continues to explore alternative ways to recover lost property.
New Hope Through Ceiniog Coin: Bitcoin Defi Vision
He is currently creating a new plan to tokenize his Bitcoin wallet by creating a new cryptocurrency called Ceiniog Coin. This token reflects the exact amount of lost Bitcoin and provides a way for the community to fund excavation by purchasing the token.
If successful, the token holder could be rewarded with Bitcoin from the wallet.
But I’m asking for permission.
So I’m tokenizing the whole wallet (8,000 btc) to an 800b ceiniog coin (ini) – 1:1 statoshi value
Built on top of Bitcoin
• Equipped with op_return
• Integrate with stacks, runes and ordinances
Launched in the second half of 2025The Vault is mine, and I say: pic.twitter.com/mc3ppk3qcm
– James Howelzy (@howelzy) August 4, 2025
James assumes Ceiniog coins as more than just a token. This is Bitcoin-centric Deficiency, bringing new use cases to the Bitcoin network by integrating with platforms such as Stack, Runes and Ordinances launched in late 2025.
His goal is to revive Bitcoin’s original purpose as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system rather than just a valuable store.
Despite facing many obstacles, James continues to commit to this new approach and hopes that the community will support his vision.
