Bitcoin wallet ownership case narrows as dormant addresses move

A New York lawsuit targeting tens of thousands of dormant Bitcoin addresses has become harder to defend after 44 defendants were dropped from the case. For Bitcoin holders, the dispute matters because it tests whether years of on-chain silence could be treated as legal abandonment.

The plaintiffs, ABC Company, XYZ Company, and a pseudonymous claimant known as Noah Doe, want the court to declare them owners of wallets they say were found, reported to police, and left unclaimed after a notice campaign. The case still covers 39,025 addresses, many linked to Bitcoin's early mining era, including wallets researchers have tied to Satoshi Nakamoto.

The removed addresses had 21,443 BTC when the suit was filed, according to Galaxy Digital research head Alex Thorn. He said they later moved 46,334 BTC on-chain and now hold about 3,097 BTC. That activity weakens the plaintiffs' own argument that the remaining wallets were abandoned because they showed no on-chain action.

The case also faces a direct challenge from "John Doe 33," who filed defenses on July 8. He argues Bitcoin addresses are not legal persons and cannot be sued, and says OP_RETURN notices were not a reliable way to reach wallet owners. Proposed amicus briefs from attorney Ian R. Cohen and the Digital Chamber also question whether inactivity alone can prove abandonment of self-custodied Bitcoin.