Treasure for EUR 700 million? A document with a missing disk is starting
For 12 years, the British has been fighting to recover the disk from 8000 bitcoins. Now his story will go to the screens as a documentary series.
British IT specialist James Howells has been trying to recover a hard disk for over a decade, which was accidentally thrown into a garbage dump in the city of Newport. This carrier contains the key to the digital wallet, which has 8000 bitcoins. At the current exchange rate, their value is about EUR 732 million. According to Android.com.pl, the unusual history of Howell is to be shown soon in the documentary series.
Lost cryptocurrencies
The interest in cryptocurrencies at Howell began in 2009, when Bitcoin was just gaining publicity. As part of the so -called BTC digging accumulated funds on a digital wallet, to which the only access was provided by the said disk. In 2013, during cleaning, the device was accidentally thrown out – most likely by an computer science partner who confused them with useless equipment.
Since then, Howells has been unsuccessfully trying to recover the carrier from the landfill. He presented detailed proposals of activities, including the use of advanced technologies, such as geological scanners and land searching works. Despite this, Newport authorities consistently rejected his initiatives, citing security considerations and environmental protection.
In 2025 the situation changed. The city council announced plans to close the landfill and transform it into a solar farm. Howells has reported a desire to buy this area, which can create a new chance to start searching.
Documentary series
The history of computer science caught the attention of film producers. According to the BBC, this year the documentary series entitled “The Buried Bitcoin: The Real-Life Treasure Hunt of James Howells”, implemented by the American company Lebul, will premiere this year. Production will present the whole story – from unfortunate error, through many years of attempts to recover data, to the latest actions and legal conflicts.
Howells hopes that the document will allow him to present his plan in a clear way and gain wider support. Although the British courts rejected his claims, and the appeal was rejected, the IT specialist is considering referring the case to the European Court of Human Rights. In his opinion, the series can become a key tool in a further fight to recover a digital fortune.
