NY Court Halts $235 Billion Lawsuit Over 39,000 Dormant Bitcoin Wallets

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NY Court Halts $235 Billion Lawsuit Over 39,000 Dormant Bitcoin Wallets

A pseudonymous plaintiff filed suit to claim 39,000 dormant Bitcoin wallets holding 3.8 million BTC under New York's lost-property law. A judge froze the case until July 14.

An anonymous plaintiff filing as "Noah Doe" sued in New York in March 2026 with an unusual legal theory: 39,069 Bitcoin wallets have sat dormant for years, their owners can't be found, and under New York's lost-property law the wallets should go to whoever located them. Together, those addresses hold roughly 3.8 million BTC — about $235 billion at current prices.

Doe, alongside two Wyoming LLCs, claims to have built an algorithm that identified dormant wallets with what he calls security vulnerabilities. They sent notices via OP_RETURN blockchain messages and a press release. Nobody responded. The theory: silence equals abandonment, and abandonment means a finder can take ownership under state law.

New York State Supreme Court Justice Kathy J. King froze proceedings on June 5 after attorney Ian Cohen filed an amicus brief. Cohen's argument: the lost-property statute was written for tangible objects — a coat, a phone, a set of keys — not for cryptographic keys on a blockchain. An OP_RETURN message and a press release don't meet constitutional notice standards, particularly for deceased owners, non-English speakers, or holders of older Bitcoin address formats. A hearing is set for July 14; plaintiffs must respond to opposing motions by July 7.

The wallets in question are no ordinary collection of forgotten coins. Among the 39,000 addresses are holdings from the 2014 Mt. Gox hack and, reportedly, wallets believed to belong to Satoshi Nakamoto. A detail that undermines the abandonment theory: in early June, one of the "dormant" addresses — last active in 2011 — sent 47.26 BTC, worth nearly $3 million, to another wallet. Hard to call something abandoned when it moves money during the lawsuit.

Doe's chances of prevailing are thin. Most legal experts say the lost-and-found doctrine simply doesn't translate to private keys controlling on-chain assets. But this case now forces a New York court to answer in writing: can a dormant Bitcoin wallet legally qualify as abandoned property? The answer, expected after July 14, will set a reference point for dormant inheritance claims, lost seed phrases, and assets frozen by exchange hacks — well beyond this one case.

Questions and answers

Frequently asked questions about this article

Who is Noah Doe and what is he claiming?

The plaintiff's identity is not publicly disclosed. He filed alongside two Wyoming LLCs and claims ownership of 39,069 dormant Bitcoin wallets under New York's lost-property statute.

What is New York's lost-property law and why does it matter for Bitcoin?

The law allows a finder to claim ownership of lost property when the owner cannot be located. Plaintiffs argue dormant wallets qualify as lost property. Critics counter that the statute applies to tangible objects, not cryptographic keys on a blockchain.

Why did the court pause rather than dismiss the case outright?

Judge Kathy J. King found the amicus brief's arguments substantial enough to halt any rush toward a default judgment. This is standard practice when a case raises novel legal questions requiring full adversarial briefing.

Could Satoshi Nakamoto's bitcoins really be among the claimed wallets?

Some addresses in the suit appear to match early mining blocks from 2009–2011 often associated with Satoshi. There's no way to prove specific keys belong to Satoshi, which further complicates the plaintiff's ownership claims.

What happens after the July 14 hearing?

The court will rule on whether to accept Cohen's amicus brief and whether the case can proceed. If allowed to continue, a full adversarial proceeding follows with arguments from both sides. If not, the suit ends at the preliminary stage.

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