New York Lawsuit Targets 39,069 Dormant Bitcoin Wallets as Abandoned Property

A New York lawsuit filed on 1 May seeks ownership of 39,069 dormant Bitcoin wallets by arguing they qualify as abandoned property under state law. Noah Doe, ABC Company, and XYZ Company filed the complaint after a year-long effort to locate and contact the wallet owners failed. The lawsuit invokes New York Personal Property Law Article 7-B and targets wallets reportedly connected to early miners and addresses attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto. Industry figures and analysts say the case faces significant technical and legal barriers because Bitcoin ownership relies on private keys, which cannot be transferred through court order.

Case Details

The plaintiffs are seeking a declaratory judgment granting ownership of the 39,069 Bitcoin addresses and the cryptocurrency held within them. According to court documents, 42,001 wallets were originally identified. Of these, 2,932 were removed from the claim following responses during the notification process. The remaining wallets are estimated to contain approximately 3.7 million BTC worth around US$285 billion (AU$399 billion).

Methodology and Notification Process

The filing states Noah Doe used a self-developed algorithm to identify wallets considered inactive. He reported the findings to the New York Police Department and then conducted an outreach campaign lasting more than a year to attempt to locate and contact the wallet owners.

Industry Criticism

The lawsuit has drawn criticism from figures within the crypto industry. Former Ripple Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz mocked the claim on X. Other commentators argued that Bitcoin's decentralised structure makes court-ordered ownership changes practically unenforceable.

Analysts also raised procedural concerns surrounding the notification process. Timechain Index founder Sani and Castle Labs researcher Noveleader both argued notices may have been sent to outdated address formats rather than the wallets actually holding the Bitcoin balances.