Latest news with #JamesHowells
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Did a simple cleanup cost this man $742 million? The shocking 12-year hunt for lost Bitcoin
A Routine Cleanup With Life-Altering Consequences James Howells' Story Becomes the Plot For Docuseries Decade-Long Quest Live Events The Courtroom Drama FAQs (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel In 2013, James Howells was just an ordinary IT worker in Newport, South Wales, doing what most of us do, tidying up his office space. What he didn't realise at the time was that his routine clean-up would accidentally toss away a hard drive holding 8,000 Bitcoins, as per a report. Back then, those Bitcoins were worth $8 million, and today, that same digital wallet is valued at around $742 million, as per Daily Galaxy single mistake turned Howells' life into a treasure hunt for more than a decade, and now after 12 years, his story is being turned into a docuseries and is set to be released in late 2025, as per the report.A Los Angeles-based production company called LEBUL has bought the rights to tell Howells' story in a new docuseries, podcast, and short-form content named 'The Buried Bitcoin: The Real-Life Treasure Hunt of James Howells," reported had mined the Bitcoins in the early days of cryptocurrency, but like many at the time, he didn't fully grasp the value of what he had. The private key to the fortune was stored on a hard drive that ended up in a Newport landfill—lost under tonnes of trash, according to Daily Galaxy Bitcoin's value skyrocketed, so did Howells' determination to recover what he'd lost, but it was not easy to dig up the landfill to find his hard drive, according to the Howells didn't just sit back and mourn his loss, he made plans for high-tech solutions, including AI-powered drones and robotic systems, to safely search the landfill without causing environmental damage, reported Daily Galaxy. He had even offered to fund the project himself and asked just for the Newport City Council's permission to access the landfill, but the permission never came, according to the officials denied permission due to the potential dangers of disturbing the landfill, which could cause the release of toxic gases and the contamination of water sources, reported Daily 2024, his fight had reached its final chapter in court as a British judge ruled his recovery efforts had 'no realistic prospect' of success, as per the report. The judge also had highlighted many factors that made the case untenable, like the condition of the hard drive after more than a decade of exposure to moisture, pressure, and extreme temperatures, as per Daily Galaxy. After the ruling, his search came to an official was tossed into a landfill in Newport, South Wales, where it remains buried under tons of waste.A docuseries titled 'The Buried Bitcoin' is in production by LEBUL, along with a podcast and short-form content.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Bitcoin dad who 'threw away' fortune having fight turned into US TV show
A dad who 'threw away' a £635M Bitcoin fortune is having story turned into US TV show. Unlucky James Howells, 39, was one of the first Bitcoin miners back in 2009 after he learnt about the cryptocurrency from internet forums. James, of Newport, Wales, created 8,000 coins and stored the access code on a 2.5-inch hard drive in a drawer at his home office. James Howells (Image: SWNS) But in 2013 his then-partner mistakenly threw out the hard drive. It has since laid in a rubbish tip run by Newport Council in Wales and he has spent years fighting for the right to retrieve it. James then assembled a team of experts to take Newport council to Cardiff High Court to force an excavation as a 'last resort' - but the claim was thrown out and an appeal failed. The tip where the bitcoin are allegedly buried (Image: SWNS) Lebul, a Los Angeles-based entertainment company, has now acquired the rights to develop James' unique story into a 'live-action tech thriller' TV series called The Buried Bitcoin: The Real-Life Treasure Hunt of James Howells. The series will be venturing through James' journey to recover the hard drive while facing "numerous practical and bureaucratic obstacles". Lebul's Reese Van Allen said: "This isn't just content. "It's a live-action tech thriller with nearly a billion dollars on the line, and Lebul is proud to bring it to the world."
South Wales Argus
01-05-2025
- South Wales Argus
Newport man's Bitcoin retrieval fight to become US TV show
Unlucky James Howells, 39, was one of the first Bitcoin miners back in 2009 after he learnt about the cryptocurrency from internet forums. James, of Newport, Wales, created 8,000 coins and stored the access code on a 2.5-inch hard drive in a drawer at his home office. James Howells (Image: SWNS) But in 2013 his then-partner mistakenly threw out the hard drive. It has since laid in a rubbish tip run by Newport Council in Wales and he has spent years fighting for the right to retrieve it. James then assembled a team of experts to take Newport council to Cardiff High Court to force an excavation as a 'last resort' - but the claim was thrown out and an appeal failed. The tip where the bitcoin are allegedly buried (Image: SWNS) Lebul, a Los Angeles-based entertainment company, has now acquired the rights to develop James' unique story into a 'live-action tech thriller' TV series called The Buried Bitcoin: The Real-Life Treasure Hunt of James Howells. The series will be venturing through James' journey to recover the hard drive while facing "numerous practical and bureaucratic obstacles". Lebul's Reese Van Allen said: "This isn't just content. "It's a live-action tech thriller with nearly a billion dollars on the line, and Lebul is proud to bring it to the world."
BBC News
01-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Film to be made on man who lost £570m bitcoin in Newport tip
A documentary is being made about the man who lost a hard drive containing £570m of bitcoin. James Howells, 39, has been trying to retrieve the hard drive containing his lost bitcoin fortune, which he believes is in a Newport landfill site, for over a a production company from America, called LEBUL, have acquired the exclusive rights to develop and produce his story. Mr Howells said he's "excited" to "finally be able to tell the story in his own words". Mr Howells acquired the bitcoin, also known as BTC, during the early days of the claimed his ex-partner mistakenly threw out the hard drive, containing 8,000 bitcoins, in 2013, with it ending up in a tip owned by Newport City month, a High Court judge threw out his efforts to access the landfill or get £495m in compensation, saying there were no "reasonable grounds" for bringing the claim and "no realistic prospect" of succeeding at a full led Mr Howells to represent himself at the Court of Appeal in London, using artificial intelligence to support his in March, the court dismissed his appeal, and he is now considering taking the matter to the European Court of Human Howell has also expressed interest in buying the site after the council said it planned to close it in the 2025-26 financial year, however Newport City Council said it was making no further comment on the matter. Mr Howells said "every man and his dog wanted to film this," claiming he received about 200 offers from around the world, including from BAFTA and Emmy-winning production said until recently, "the timing wasn't really right with the legal battles".However, on Tuesday, the Los Angeles-based entertainment company LEBUL announced plans for a docuseries, podcast, and short-form content documenting Mr Howells' mission to recover the mistakenly discarded hard drive containing 8,000 "The Buried Bitcoin: The Real-Life Treasure Hunt of James Howells", the series is set to explore the early days of bitcoin, Mr Howells' involvement, the legal battle, and his high-tech plan to excavate the site, all brought to life with extensive Howells said it would also follow his efforts to purchase the landfill where the hard drive is believed to be buried."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 Van Allen, from LEBUL, said: "This isn't just content. "It's a live-action tech thriller with nearly a billion dollars at stake — and LEBUL is proud to bring it to the world". The company said the series had already begun attracting strong interest from global sponsors, crypto leaders, and major streaming platforms. Mr Howells said filming is scheduled to take place over the summer, with the documentary set for release in October or added: "This is the first sort of time that I've been able to show the world exactly what we want to do at the landfill site."Once people have viewed this documentary, they won't think this is a crazy plan and they'll think it is very achievable." What is Bitcoin? Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, a virtual or digital currency that has no physical can be split into smaller units, with a satoshi being the smallest monetary are named after bitcoin's inventor Satoshi Nakamoto – believed to be a pseudonym – who wrote a key document about the currency in investing in the product around this time, like Mr Howells, were part of a "very small" crypto community known as Cypherpunks, said Billy Bambrough, author of the CryptoCodex was not the first cryptocurrency to be invented, but it did gain considerable attention with early adherents being "very quickly enamoured with it", Mr Bambrough began to rise in about 2016 and 2017, and again in 2020 during the Covid pandemic when "stock markets, cryptocurrencies and meme coins went up hugely"."A lot of people got very rich, but a lot of people also lost money," Mr Bambrough cryptocurrency also saw rapid increases in late 2024, shortly after Donald Trump's victory in the US general election, with his administration being seen as far friendlier towards cryptocurrencies than the Biden White House."A lot of people in the crypto and bitcoin worlds say the price has gone up so much in such a short amount of time, they claim it could go higher and higher," Mr Bambrough said."So I can understand why James [Howells] is keen to find his bitcoin."
Wales Online
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Fresh new and unexpected twist on story of man who lost £566m in Bitcoin in rubbish dump
Fresh new and unexpected twist on story of man who lost £566m in Bitcoin in rubbish dump Would-be Bitcoin multi-millionaire James Howells, who has tried in vain for years to get access to the dump to find his lost treasure, has dubbed it 'a story the world is waiting to see' James Howells at the Newport landfill site (Image: WALES NEWS SERVICE ) An American production company has bought the rights to make a TV series about a Welsh dad who lost a fortune at a rubbish dump. James Howells, from Newport, became one of the first miners of Bitcoin in 2009 after learning about the cryptocurrency from internet forums. The 39-year-old created 8,000 coins, which cost him almost nothing, and stored the access code on a 2.5-inch hard drive in a drawer at his home office. But in 2013 his then-partner mistakenly threw out the hard drive. Since then, the value of the coins has rocketed to more than £566m and Howells has spent 12 years desperately trying to get the hard drive back from the Docksway landfill site where it is buried. He recently took Newport council to the High Court in a "last resort" attempt to force an excavation but the claim was thrown out and an appeal failed. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here Los Angeles-based entertainment company Lebul has now acquired rights to develop Mr Howells' story into a "live-action tech thriller" TV series titled The Buried Bitcoin: The Real-Life Treasure Hunt of James Howells. According to its website Lebul's head of scripted entertainment, Aaron Criswell, played "a key role" in films including The Wolf of Wall Street, Red Riding Hood and The Ides of March. Article continues below The series is set to chronicle Mr Howells' mission to recover the hard drive while facing "numerous practical and bureaucratic obstacles". "This isn't just content," said Lebul's Reese Van Allen. "It's a live-action tech thriller with nearly a billion dollars on the line, and Lebul is proud to bring it to the world." Mr Howells said he was proud to confirm the deal with Lebul and described the project as "a story the world is waiting to see". Earlier this year his court claim was thrown out by Judge Keyser KC, who said it would have "no realistic prospect" of success at trial. Newport Council refused to allow an excavation on the basis of its environmental permit. It claimed the dig would have "a huge negative environmental impact on the surrounding area". You can read more about Mr Howells' disastrous loss and his court battle here. Article continues below Get daily breaking news updates on your phone by joining our WhatsApp community here . We occasionally treat members to special offers, promotions and ads from us and our partners. See our Privacy Notice.
