A discarded arduous drive, a billion-dollar Bitcoin pockets, and a trash-strewn landfill in Wales at the moment are the muse for a high-stakes docuseries.
Leisure firm LEBUL introduced this week that it has acquired unique rights to the story of James Howells, the British engineer who famously misplaced entry to eight,000 Bitcoin (BTC) in 2013.
Dubbed ‘The Buried Bitcoin: The Real-Life Treasure Hunt of James Howells,’ the multi-platform mission will span a premium docuseries, a podcast, and a social-first storytelling marketing campaign.
It goals to dramatize Howells’ decade-long quest to get better the drive—now estimated to be value greater than $800 million, from a municipal dump in Newport, Wales.
“This isn’t just content,” stated Reese Van Allen, President of Unscripted Leisure at LEBUL. “It’s a live-action tech thriller with nearly a billion dollars on the line.”
Howells, an early Bitcoin miner, says his former associate by chance tossed the arduous drive in 2013. Since then, he’s taken Newport Metropolis Council to court docket a number of occasions, looking for permission to excavate the location or demanding a share of the worth, at one level requesting £495 million in compensation.
Regardless of providing to separate any recovered funds with town and native residents, courts have dominated in opposition to him, citing environmental and property legislation considerations.
Howells’ authorized battle
Most not too long ago, Howells misplaced a serious authorized battle in Cardiff Excessive Courtroom in early 2025. The council plans to close down the landfill through the 2025–2026 fiscal 12 months and redevelop a part of it right into a photo voltaic farm.
Undeterred, Howells has instructed he might enchantment to the Supreme Courtroom—and even attempt to purchase the complete landfill.
LEBUL’s adaptation will mix real-time environmental battle, blockchain lore, and private obsession. In response to the corporate, world streaming platforms and crypto sponsors are already circling the mission.
Howells’ story, usually likened to a modern-day treasure hunt, will now attain a broader viewers as LEBUL turns a forgotten piece of e-waste into leisure gold.
