In 2013, James Howells, an IT technician from Newport, Wales, accidentally threw away a hard drive containing the private keys to 8,000 Bitcoins. At that time, the cryptocurrency was worth roughly $8 million. Over the next decade, Bitcoin’s value increased dramatically, making the contents of the lost hard drive worth an estimated $550 million as of March 2026. Howells reportedly explored multiple recovery strategies, including advanced technological methods and legal action, but the drive remained buried in Newport’s municipal landfill. As reported, in January 2025, a British court ruled that the recovery attempt had “no realistic prospect” of success. Following the ruling, Howells’ story was acquired by a production company for a documentary series.
