BlockBeats News, August 5th, according to The Block, earlier this week, several posts appeared on social media claiming that UK Newport IT engineer James Howells had officially ended his search for the lost 8,000 BTC. James Howells reached out to The Block via private message on social platform X to say: "No, I have not 'given up.' Part of the story circulating in the public domain has truth to it, but isn't quite as the story unfolds."

Howells explained that on July 1st, he formally made an offer to the Newport City Council leadership, legal team, and a member of parliament to purchase and excavate the Newport landfill site, with an estimated value between $33 million and $40 million. To raise funds for the acquisition, Howells had announced plans to launch an Ordinal-based token in October representing 21% of the lost wallet's value. Despite the significant offer amount, Howells claims Newport has not responded or acknowledged receipt of the offer. So, the situation as it stands now is that if they won't sell, there's no need to acquire the landfill through token sales, I am no longer seeking to acquire the landfill, progress the excavation or recovery, nor continue talks with the council or its representatives.

Howells mentioned that he has only "shifted" strategy but has not given up on recovering the lost bitcoins as he is still the rightful owner of the 8,000 BTC, citing a high court ruling from January this year. The council may own the hard drive, but they do not have ownership over the digital contents within - the 8,000 bitcoins legally belong to me, and anyone in the world can at any time audit their balance. Howells mentioned that he plans to tokenize his legal ownership of the lost 8,000 BTC, issuing a Bitcoin Layer 2 smart token named Ceiniog Coin (INI), using an upcoming network upgrade to lift the 80-byte limit on OP_RETURN opcode in Bitcoin transactions, enabling more functional space. The token is expected to launch post-October, with plans for an ICO later this year.