A Bitcoin address sat untouched for nearly 15 years. Then on Saturday, it moved. Address “1KV47” transferred 30 BTC — worth about $1.88 million — for the first time since receiving the coins in August 2011.
It’s one of 39,069 addresses listed in a New York lawsuit filed by “Noah Doe” and two Wyoming companies. The suit seeks ownership of dormant Bitcoin holdings, arguing they qualify as lost property under state law. The addresses include ones associated with Satoshi Nakamoto and collectively hold an estimated 3.7 million BTC — roughly $234 billion.
More dormant wallets tied to the case have been waking up. Galaxy Research data shows 31 addresses moved 17,527 BTC in June, up from five addresses that moved 4,834 BTC in February.
But not everyone thinks the lawsuit has legs. A defendant called “John Doe 33” filed a motion to dismiss on Friday, arguing Bitcoin addresses are just data strings that can’t be sued. Edwin Mata, CEO of tokenization platform Brickken, told Cointelegraph the case has a core problem: “Inactivity is not abandonment.” Under property law, abandonment requires intent to relinquish rights. A dormant address proves nothing of the sort.
The funds could be long-term cold storage, lost keys, or a holder who just won’t move them. Without private keys, the lawsuit’s foundation looks shaky.
