James Howells Refuses to Quit on $915M Bitcoin Treasure Hunt—Pivots to Tokenized Recovery Plan
One man’s trash is another man’s $915M crypto white whale—and James Howells isn’t letting it slip away.
After a decade of failed landfill digs for his lost hard drive, the Bitcoin pioneer is ditching shovels for smart contracts. His new play? Tokenizing the search—and potential recovery—of his 8,000 BTC fortune.
The pivot: Howells’ team now plans to issue asset-backed tokens representing shares in the treasure hunt. Early backers get dibs on future spoils—assuming regulators don’t torpedo the scheme first.
Why it matters: This Hail Mary blends crypto’s wildest promises—decentralized ownership, speculative assetization—with Wall Street’s favorite pastime: monetizing desperation.
The kicker? Even if the tokens moon, the real jackpot still sits under 110,000 tons of Welsh garbage. Talk about a shitcoin with upside.
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His new approach involves tokenizing his legal ownership via a bitcoin Layer 2 smart token called Ceiniog Coin (INI). The token will be backed by the lost BTC and leverage an upcoming Bitcoin network upgrade lifting the 80-byte OP_RETURN cap. An ICO is expected later this year.
“The aim is to bootstrap a high-speed, payment-focused Web3 ecosystem backed by Bitcoin,” Howells said, positioning INI as a digital claim on his still-lost, but legally retained, Bitcoin balance.
