Bitcoin News Today: Welshman Abandons 8,000 Bitcoin Recovery Push Launches Ceiniog ICO Backed by Buried Coins

James Howells, a Welshman who accidentally lost 8,000 Bitcoin in a landfill in Newport, Wales, has abandoned his decade-long efforts to retrieve the cryptocurrency and is now shifting focus to a new venture. The lost Bitcoin is currently valued at approximately $923 million, falling just 8.34% short of making Howells a theoretical billionaire [1]. Over the years, he has pursued multiple avenues—including public proposals, mediation, legal battles, and a multi-million-dollar bid—to recover the hard drive that contains the private keys to his Bitcoin, but has faced repeated failures and no response from local authorities [2].

In July 2025, Howells submitted three formal offers to Newport City Council, proposing to pay £2.5 million ($3.32 million) for the landfill site, a price he said a contractor had assessed as fair [3]. He also noted that the deal could save the council up to £30 million ($39.86 million) by avoiding future post-closure care costs. Despite these efforts, the council reportedly ignored all communications, leaving Howells to conclude that his attempts had been futile [4].

Now, Howells is pivoting toward launching a new Bitcoin layer-2 network called Ceiniog, named after a historical Welsh currency. He plans to issue an initial coin offering (ICO) later this year, with the network aiming to function as a cultural hub for Bitcoin-related innovations such as Runes and Ordinals [5]. Howells argues that Ceiniog is "backed" by the 8,000 BTC buried in the landfill, and he anticipates the network’s market capitalization could rise to match that value, potentially placing it as the 81st largest cryptocurrency by market cap [6].

According to Howells, the model is similar to the historical gold standard, where paper currency represented the value of gold stored in vaults. In his view, the buried Bitcoin serves as the "vault," and Ceiniog tokens represent its value in a Web3 environment [7]. However, unlike the gold standard or stablecoins, Ceiniog tokens will not grant holders direct access to the buried Bitcoin, as Howells cannot retrieve the keys [8].

He has emphasized that the Ceiniog project is not speculative, unlike many other ICOs, as it is theoretically underpinned by his lost Bitcoin. Howells intends to lead the project’s development and bring in community developers through token incentives [9]. While he plans to launch the project internationally, he hopes to eventually bring it back to Newport, leveraging the region’s refusal to help him recover the Bitcoin as fuel for his new venture.

Howells has expressed frustration with the local government, stating that the council’s inaction forced him to take alternative action. “You won’t let me search for my property? Okay, fine. I’ll tokenize it, create a load of money, and ram crypto down your fucking throat for the rest of your life,” he said [10]. He envisions building a "Scrooge McDuck money bin" on top of the landfill once it is purchased, as a symbolic gesture of defiance.

Newport City Council has not responded to requests for comment.

[1] https://decrypt.co/333445/man-fails-to-buy-landfill-with-his-lost-923m-bitcoin-heres-his-new-plan