5 Shocking Things about the Man Who Lost 8,000 BTC Worth Rp15 Trillion in a Trash Can

Jakarta, Pintu News – The story of James Howells, the British man who lost 8,000 Bitcoin (BTC) by mistakenly throwing his hard drive into a landfill in 2013, has captured the attention of the crypto world once again. The value of the Bitcoin he threw away is now equivalent to almost Rp15 trillion, making it one of the most famous stories in the cryptocurrency world.

After more than a decade of fruitlessly fighting for permission to re-excavate the landfill, Howells has now taken a surprising step: launching a new token project called Ceiniog Coin (INI). Here are some interesting facts behind this epic story.

1. James Howells sets the record straight on social media rumors

James Howells, the British man who lost access to 8,000 Bitcoin (BTC) in 2013, has denied that he has given up. Through a post on Twitter, Howells emphasized that he is still fighting, even though he no longer asks Newport city council for permission to search landfills.

According to him, over the past 12 years he has tried various means, ranging from public proposals, legal mediation, to offering more than IDR 489 billion to recover the hard drive. Unfortunately, all offers were ignored.

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2. New Strategy: Creating Ceiniog Coin

Instead of continuing to deal with the local government, Howells has now launched a different plan. He will tokenize the entire wallet containing 8,000 BTC into a new cryptocurrency called Ceiniog Coin (INI).

The name is taken from the ancient currency of Wales, and these tokens will be Layer 2 on top of the Bitcoin network, pegged 1:1 to satoshis. A total of 800 billion INI tokens will be issued, all directly linked to the 8,000 BTC locked away on hard drives.

3. Ceiniog Coin Launch Plan and Ecosystem

Ceiniog Coin is scheduled for release in late 2025, utilizing the OP_RETURN feature in Bitcoin. The project will also integrate with Web3 ecosystems such as Stacks, Runes, and Ordinals.

Howells expects Ceiniog’s market value to be equivalent to those 8,000 BTC. With Bitcoin’s current price at around Rp1.89 billion per BTC (US$116,000), he only needs to add around 8.34% in value to theoretically become a billionaire.

4. Chronology of Bitcoin Loss Worth IDR 15 Trillion

This incident began in 2013 when Howells accidentally threw a hard drive containing private keys into a landfill. At that time, the price of Bitcoin was only tens of thousands of rupiah per coin, but now its value has swelled to around IDR 15.04 trillion.

Since then, he has submitted various proposals, including environmental cleanup plans and scanning the landfill with AI technology. Its latest bid in July 2025 for Rp538 billion-Rp652 billion even included a full purchase of the landfill. However, Newport city council again declined citing environmental risks and uncertainty of outcome.

5. From Digging Waste to Building Digital Value

After years of failing to cut through the bureaucracy, Howells decided to create new value from those locked Bitcoins through Ceiniog Coin. The plan was to sell the tokens cheaper during the ICO, giving early backers the opportunity to get involved.

He hopes that, over time, the price of Ceiniog Coin will naturally rise to match the value of the 8,000 BTC on which it is based. If successful, this story will be one of the most unique examples in crypto and cryptocurrency history.

Conclusion

James Howells may no longer be digging through garbage to find billions of dollars in Bitcoin, but he is instead building a new project that combines creativity and blockchain technology. Whether Ceiniog Coin will be the solution or just another chapter in this long saga, time will tell.

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Reference:

• Sandra White. Man Who Threw Away $1 Billion In Bitcoin Debunks Rumors, Here’s The Progress. Accessed August 8, 2025.