James Howells and his buried Bitcoin story to be televised. Credit: Instagram @howelzy_
James Howells, the Welsh IT engineer who accidentally threw away a hard drive holding 8,000 Bitcoins, is finally telling his side of the story in a documentary.
After a more than a decade-long legal and personal battle to recover his fortune, a new documentary will explore what might be the most expensive mistake in digital history.
A decade of searching for £570 million (€672 million) in Bitcoin
In 2013, Howells mistakenly discarded a hard drive containing the private keys to his Bitcoin wallet. At the time, the cryptocurrency was worth around $8 million. Today, those same 8,000 bitcoins are valued at £570 million (€672 million).
The drive was thrown out during a home office clean-up and ended up in Newport’s Docksway landfill. Howells quickly realised the error and launched an ambitious plan to recover it.
Despite assembling a team of AI and excavation experts and offering 30 per cent of the recovered fortune to Newport’s residents and council, his search was repeatedly blocked. Newport City Council cited environmental and legal concerns, warning of risks like toxic gas release and groundwater contamination.
In 2024, a High Court judge dismissed Howells’ attempt to sue the council for £495 million (€586.7 million) in compensation, stating he had “no realistic prospect” of winning. A further appeal was also rejected in March 2025, even after Howells represented himself using AI to build his case.
Despite the setbacks, he’s still pushing forward. His latest plan? Buy the landfill outright once it closes during the 2025–26 financial year.
As reported by the BBC, US-based production company LEBUL has bought the exclusive rights to produce a documentary about Howells’ search, titled The Buried Bitcoin: The Real-Life Treasure Hunt of James Howells.
Howells told the BBC he’s “excited to finally be able to tell the story in his own words,” noting, “Every man and his dog wanted to film this.” He claims he received around 200 offers, including from BAFTA and Emmy-winning companies, but had held off due to ongoing court battles.
James Howells: “I’m not giving up the fight”
Filming is expected to take place over summer 2025, with release planned for October or November. According to LEBUL’s Reese Van Allen, this is “a live-action tech thriller with nearly a billion dollars at stake.”
Despite the court’s final decision, Howells remains undeterred. “It will follow the live treasure hunt if you will because even though the court has said no to me – I’m not giving up the fight,” he said, adding that once the documentary airs, people will see “this is a very achievable plan.”
Bitcoin’s boom
Bitcoin has surged dramatically since 2013. As crypto journalist Billy Bambrough told the BBC, early adopters like Howells were part of a tiny group of “Cypherpunks,” fascinated by digital privacy and decentralised finance.
Bitcoin prices spiked in 2017, again during the COVID-19 pandemic, and most recently after Donald Trump’s election win, as his administration is pro crypto..
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