- A lawsuit is trying to claim ownership of nearly 3.8 million Bitcoins.
- Plaintiffs argue NY abandoned property laws may allow the reclamation of lost crypto.
- David Schwartz responded sarcastically, saying BSV might honor the court order.
Ripple’s former Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz, has publicly mocked a highly controversial lawsuit trying to claim ownership of nearly 3.8 million Bitcoins through New York’s unclaimed property laws.
The case focuses on a New York lawsuit filed by a claimant identified as “Noah Doe.” The lawsuit is reportedly trying to claim ownership of 39,069 dormant Bitcoin wallets holding about 3.79 million BTC, which is worth hundreds of billions of dollars at today’s prices.
What makes this especially controversial is that the wallets in question are supposedly linked to early Bitcoin miners, Casascius physical coins, unknown addresses, hacked funds, and even wallets many believe belong to Satoshi Nakamoto himself.
According to the filing, the plaintiffs argue that New York’s abandoned property laws could allow dormant crypto assets to be legally reassigned if owners can’t be identified or contacted.
Schwartz’s Comment
The claim was met with immediate scepticism across the crypto world, including from David Schwartz, one of the best‑known names in blockchain development. On X, the former Ripple CTO responded sarcastically to the idea that a court could actually go for “something dumb like this,” saying the only chain that “might honor it” is BSV (Bitcoin Satoshi Vision).
Many saw his comment as a clear shot at Bitcoin SV, given its track record of backing court‑ordered blockchain actions and governance disputes involving Craig Wright.
Wright and BSV backers have pushed controversial legal cases before, including claims over Bitcoin ownership and attempts to get allegedly stolen or lost BTC back through legal channels.
Most of the crypto world dismissed the lawsuit, pointing out that Bitcoin’s decentralized design makes it nearly impossible to force ownership changes.
Unlike traditional bank accounts or custodial assets, Bitcoin wallets can only be accessed through private keys. Even if a court tried to hand over ownership, node operators across the globe would almost certainly reject any effort to change the blockchain just to enforce such a ruling.
This is a big reason why the lawsuit is getting so much pushback. While the lawyers and blockchain devs could say courts may recognize ownership claims on paper, a decentralized network can’t be forced to rewrite who owns a wallet unless most of its participants agree.
Related: Ripple CTO David Schwartz Flags Bitcoin’s Incentive Problem
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