A Bitcoin-related lawsuit aiming to claim ownership of more than 39,000 inactive wallets, holding an estimated 3.7 million BTC, will face a court hearing in New York this July. The plaintiffs argue that these Bitcoin holdings, valued around $226 billion at current market prices, should be treated as abandoned property under New York law due to their prolonged dormancy and lack of access by original owners.
The case, filed by Noah Doe alongside Wyoming-registered companies ABC Company and XYZ Company, focuses on dormant Bitcoin addresses, some reportedly connected to Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. Among the targets is the “1Feex” wallet, known for its involvement in the Mt. Gox exchange hack, highlighting the contentious nature of ownership claims in long-inactive crypto assets.
The New York Supreme Court set the hearing for July 14 before Justice Kathy J. King. Ahead of this, parties must exchange motion papers and oppositions by late June and early July, with all declaratory judgment claims temporarily paused pending the court’s decisions on procedural motions. These include whether attorney Ian R. Cohen may participate as amicus curiae, which the court will assess during the hearing.
The lawsuit has attracted critical attention within the crypto community. Ripple’s former CTO, David Schwartz, publicly questioned the lawsuit’s legal foundation, specifically disputing the claim that New York courts have jurisdiction over Bitcoin wallets that, by nature of blockchain technology, are decentralized and not geographically fixed. Schwartz described the jurisdictional argument as fundamentally flawed and lacking merit.
The dispute raises broader issues about the treatment of lost or abandoned cryptocurrencies and the jurisdictional complexities of blockchain assets. The court’s upcoming hearing will test whether New York law can be applied to dormant digital wallets and could set a precedent for how unclaimed crypto assets are managed in legal systems.