- A New York lawsuit filed by Noah Doe and two Wyoming LLCs seeks ownership of 39,069 dormant Bitcoin wallets.
- The plaintiffs claim that the dormant Bitcoin wallets were legally “abandoned” property that they found.
- The case raises questions about applying traditional lost property laws to cryptocurrency.
On May 1, 2026, “Noah Doe” and two Wyoming Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) filed a New York lawsuit seeking court-ordered ownership of 39,069 dormant Bitcoin (BTC) addresses holding roughly 3.79 million BTC, including early miner addresses and those attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto.
The plaintiffs argue that the dormant Bitcoin addresses qualify as abandoned property under state law after reporting them to the New York Police Department (NYPD) and issuing on-chain press notices.
New York Lawsuit Seeks Ownership of 39,069 Dormant BTC Addresses
According to sources, an individual using the pseudonym Noah Doe together with two Wyoming LLCs (ABC Company and XYZ Company) filed a 901-page lawsuit in New York court granting them ownership of 39,069 dormant BTC addresses that collectively hold approximately 3.7 million BTC.
The addresses named in the lawsuit include early miner-era wallets, addresses attributed to Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto such as the one beginning “12c6D”, and the address “1Feex” linked to the Mt. Gox hacker. The lawsuit is filed against “John Does” as the unknown holders of these 39,069 addresses.
Plaintiffs Claim Dormant BTC Is “Abandoned” Property
The plaintiffs argue that the dormant Bitcoin addresses represent legally “abandoned” property that they found. They claim these wallets constitute “seizable property, akin to traditional bank accounts” under New York’s lost-property law because the addresses have remained inactive for years with no identifiable owners moving the funds and should be treated as lost or abandoned.
To establish their claim, they reported the found property to the NYPD and sent legal notices to the corresponding hashed public keys in Pay-to-Public-Key-Hash (P2PKH) format before filing the lawsuit.
Related: Virginia State Signs House Bill 798 to Hold Dormant Crypto ‘In-Kind’
Broader Impact on Crypto Ownership and Property Rights
The lawsuit tests how property law applies to inactive cryptocurrency but faces significant practical and legal challenges. Experts note that even if a New York court grants the plaintiffs ownership of the 39,069 dormant BTC addresses, such a ruling would be largely symbolic.
The Bitcoin network has no mechanism to reassign funds without the original private keys. A court order could only be enforced in the narrow case where the coins are held by a regulated custodian or exchange, in which case the court could compel that intermediary to act.
Furthermore, analysts state that dormancy does not equate to legal abandonment under New York law. Many of these coins belong to individuals who lost their keys, passed away, or are long-term holders who have not transacted. The plaintiffs’ legal notices were also sent to P2PKH addresses, while most of the targeted balances sit in older Pay-to-Public-Key (P2PK) outputs, raising questions about the adequacy of notice.
Therefore, the lawsuit’s outcome may prompt clearer regulations on unclaimed digital assets, though enforceability remains doubtful. Success could set precedents for similar cases, while failure would reinforce the immutability of blockchain ownership.
Related: Ripple CTO David Schwartz on Fate of Satoshi BTC ex Keys
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