James Howells’ quest to find his lost hard drive and 8,000 Bitcoins has come to an end.

A decade after accidentally throwing away a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoins (BTC) in 2013, IT engineer James Howells has given up on his quest to find more than $900 million worth of digital assets buried under hundreds of thousands of tons of trash at the Docksway landfill.

The giant landfill could bury the billionaire dreams of cryptocurrency holders. (Source: Shutterstock)

For more than 10 years, Howells has been trying to recover the hard drive – from using artificial intelligence to asking local authorities for permission to conduct a large-scale excavation. However, the Newport authority has repeatedly rejected his requests, citing environmental risks and ownership of the waste.

Howells was even accused of “bribing” the city council by offering to donate 10% of its assets if it was allowed to excavate, leading to a lengthy legal battle. The UK Supreme Court dismissed the case in January 2025, ending his hopes of recovering his lost fortune.

“I was cleaning up old IT equipment, not thinking there was any data on the hard drive… so I threw it away,” Howells said regretfully.

James Howell accidentally threw away a hard drive containing 8,000 bitcoins in 2013 and has been trying to recover them ever since. (Source: BBC)

Although he never became a billionaire, this thrilling story is being adapted into a TV series “The Buried Bitcoin” by an American production company, retelling the journey from Bitcoin’s inception to a unique digital treasure hunt.

The documentary “The Buried Bitcoin” premiered on HBO and was directed by Emmy-nominated director Cullen Hoback.

James Howells’s case is not only a lesson in digital asset management, but also reflects the legal and environmental challenges in the technology era. As Bitcoin surpasses the $100,000 mark by 2025, each loss becomes more valuable than ever.