James Howells, the British man who famously misplaced entry to eight,000 Bitcoin in a 2013 landfill accident, is setting the document straight. Taking to X (previously Twitter), Howells pushed again in opposition to current 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 not looking for permission from his native council to go looking the landfill, he’s removed from accomplished.
Howells Debunks Rumors, Plans To Flip His Misplaced $1 Billion In Bitcoin Into Ceiniog Coin
Within the publish shared on X, Howells confirmed he has not given up and slammed years of rejection from Newport Metropolis Council. For over a decade, he says he tried public proposals, authorized talks, mediation, and even supplied over $30 million to get better the drive buried within the landfill. “$1 billion and so they 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 straight linked to the 8,000 BTC sitting on the misplaced drive.
Based on Howells, Ceiniog will launch in late 2025, powered by Bitcoin’s OP_RETURN performance. It’s going to combine with Web3 tasks like Stacks, Runes, and Ordinals. With the ICO deliberate later this yr, Howells hopes the coin’s market worth will ultimately match that of the misplaced BTC, making him a theoretical billionaire, simply 8.34% away from that purpose based mostly on present costs.
How He Misplaced The Bitcoin And What He’s Carried out To Get It Again
The saga started in 2013, when James Howells, a British IT skilled, unintentionally 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 making an attempt to get better it.
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He submitted detailed restoration proposals, together with environmental clean-up plans and AI-powered landfill scans. He even supplied to lift $75 million by promoting 21% of the Bitcoin’s worth to fund the excavation. His most up-to-date formal supply in July 2025, price between $33 million and $40 million, included a full buy of the landfill and a cleanup technique. Citing environmental dangers and insecurity within the consequence, the Newport Metropolis Council rejected the plan.
Now, as an alternative of digging via landfill waste, Howells is constructing Ceiniog Coin as his approach 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