New York Lawsuit Targets 39,069 Dormant Bitcoin Wallets, Including Satoshi’s
A lawsuit filed in New York is seeking ownership of 39,069 dormant Bitcoin (BTC) wallets, including addresses linked to Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto and the Mt. Gox hacker. The plaintiffs, Noah Doe and two Wyoming-based LLCs, claim the wallets represent abandoned property under New York’s Abandoned Property Law (APL), which governs unclaimed or dormant assets.
The suit, dated May 1, 2026, alleges that these wallets, holding an estimated 3.7 million BTC (around $285 billion at Bitcoin’s current price of $77,411), were legally abandoned. However, recovering the funds may be technically impossible without the private keys, a critical point the lawsuit does not address. Legal and technical experts have already raised doubts about the enforceability of such claims.
“Even with a favorable ruling, the Bitcoin network has no mechanism to reassign funds without the private key,” said Noveleader, lead research analyst at Castle Labs. He added that courts could only intervene if the coins were moved to a regulated custodian or exchange, which is unlikely in this case.
Legal and Procedural Challenges
The lawsuit lists high-profile wallet addresses, including “12c6D,” believed to belong to Satoshi Nakamoto, and “1Feex,” linked to the Mt. Gox exchange hack. Most of these wallets have been inactive for over a decade, with many associated with early Bitcoin miners or individuals who may have lost access to their keys. According to blockchain analytics firm Timechain Index, many of the targeted tokens are stored in Pay-to-Public-Key (P2PK) formats. The plaintiffs, however, issued legal notices to hashed public key addresses (P2PKH) that hold no value, potentially undermining their claims of proper notice.
Under New York’s APL, virtual currencies are considered abandoned after five years of inactivity if the owner’s last known address is in the state. However, unlike traditional financial assets, cryptocurrency ownership is determined by possession of the private key, making it difficult for courts to enforce claims over purportedly abandoned digital assets. The law, amended in 2022 to include virtual currency, primarily applies to assets held by licensed institutions, not self-custodied wallets.
Market Context and Broader Implications
The timing of the lawsuit coincides with heightened regulatory and institutional interest in Bitcoin. Earlier in May, Bitcoin briefly surpassed $80,000 following progress on the U.S. Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which aims to solidify the legal framework for cryptocurrency trading and custody. Bitcoin currently trades at $77,411, with a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion.
Despite the market’s upward trajectory, the case underscores the complexities of applying traditional property laws to decentralized digital assets. Castle Labs’ Noveleader noted that most dormant Bitcoin is likely held by long-term investors or lost due to forgotten keys, rather than being legally “abandoned.” Blockchain data supports this, showing 3.5 million BTC have been dormant for over a decade, with another 6.6 million inactive for more than five years. Together, these dormant coins represent nearly half of Bitcoin’s total supply.
While the lawsuit is unlikely to result in the recovery of billions in Bitcoin, it raises critical questions about how courts interpret ownership and abandonment in the age of decentralized finance. For now, the case remains a symbolic clash of old-world legal frameworks against the technical realities of blockchain.
Source: Cointelegraph, Timechain Index, New York Abandoned Property Law