A British man’s wild, years-long search for a lost fortune in Bitcoin buried in a Welsh landfill is now being turned into a documentary series.
James Howells, an engineer from Newport, Wales, accidentally threw away a hard drive in 2013 that held 8,000 Bitcoins—now worth over $800 million. Ever since, he’s been on a mission to find it, digging through legal battles, media attention, and mountains of trash.
Now, his story is heading to screens.
A True Story Worth Nearly a Billion Dollars
Entertainment company LEBUL announced this week that it has secured the rights to tell Howells’ incredible story. They’re turning it into a cross-platform project that will include a TV series, a podcast, and social media content. The project is titled:
“The Buried Bitcoin: The Real-Life Treasure Hunt of James Howells.”
“This isn’t just another documentary,” said Reese Van Allen, President of Unscripted Entertainment at LEBUL. “This is a real-life tech thriller—almost a billion dollars is on the line.”
The show will explore Howells’ personal story, the rise of Bitcoin, environmental concerns tied to digging up landfills, and his relentless determination.
Lost Hard Drive, Lost Fortune
James Howells started mining Bitcoin in its early days when each coin was worth only a few dollars. But in 2013, he accidentally threw away a hard drive while cleaning up, not realizing it held his crypto wallet. The drive ended up in a local landfill in Newport, which he has been trying to search ever since.
To put it in perspective: at the time he lost it, 8,000 Bitcoins were worth about $600,000. Now, they’re worth more than $800 million.
Ongoing Legal Battles With Local Government
Howells has spent over a decade trying to get permission to dig up the landfill. He’s even offered to split the recovered Bitcoin with the city council and local residents. At one point, he asked for £495 million in compensation after being denied access.
But Newport City Council has repeatedly blocked his requests. They’ve said that digging up the site could cause serious environmental damage, and that the area is governed by strict land use laws.
In early 2025, Howells lost another court case in Cardiff’s High Court. Adding more urgency, the landfill is scheduled to close by 2026 and will be partly turned into a solar farm, making the hard drive even harder to reach.
Still Not Giving Up
Despite the setbacks, Howells isn’t walking away. He’s considering taking his case to the UK Supreme Court. He’s even talked about buying the entire landfill site just to get the hard drive back.
His story has been compared to a modern-day treasure hunt—with e-waste instead of pirates and gold.
