New York Court Pauses Suit Claiming Rights to 3.8 Million Bitcoin Until July 14 Hearing
Summary
- The New York State Supreme Court ordered all proceedings in the so-called Noah Doe lawsuit halted until a July 14 hearing.
- The wallets named in the suit are estimated to hold about 3.8 million BTC — worth roughly $234 billion at current prices — and are reported to include the Mt. Gox hack-linked 1Feex address and wallets believed to be tied to Satoshi Nakamoto's early mining activity.
- Ian Cohen argued that New York's lost-property law cannot be applied to blockchain wallets and that losing a private key is not asset abandonment, but merely a loss of access.
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A New York state court has paused the so-called Noah Doe lawsuit, which seeks ownership of Bitcoin wallets worth billions of dollars.
The Block reported on June 7 that New York State Supreme Court Justice Kathy J. King ordered all proceedings halted until a July 14 hearing in a case seeking recognition of ownership over 39,069 inactive Bitcoin wallets.
The order bars the plaintiffs from pursuing a default judgment or taking further procedural steps before the hearing.
The case, titled "ABC Company, XYZ Company, Noah Doe v. John Does 1-39,069," asks the court to recognize the plaintiffs' ownership of long-dormant Bitcoin wallets under New York laws on lost and abandoned property.
The plaintiffs argue that if the original owners fail to assert their rights for a certain period, ownership can pass to a finder. On that basis, they claim they can acquire dormant wallets on the blockchain.
Galaxy Research previously estimated that the wallets named in the suit hold about 3.8 million BTC, worth roughly $234 billion at current prices. They are reported to include the "1Feex" address linked to the 2011 Mt. Gox hack and wallets believed to be tied to Satoshi Nakamoto's early mining activity.
The stay followed a filing by Ian R. Cohen, a Bitcoin holder and New York attorney, seeking to participate as amicus curiae.
In a brief, Cohen argued that New York's lost-property law is premised on tangible assets that can be physically possessed and therefore cannot be applied to blockchain wallets. He also argued that losing a private key does not amount to abandoning an asset, but only losing access to it.
"A wallet that has not moved for 10 years is not abandoned property if the private key is sitting in a safe," Cohen wrote. "It is property being securely stored."
He also stressed that even if the court recognizes ownership, the plaintiffs would still be unable to move the Bitcoin unless they hold the private keys.
The first hearing in the case is scheduled for July 14 at the New York State Supreme Court.
Suehyeon Lee
shlee@bloomingbit.ioI'm reporter Suehyeon Lee, your Web3 Moderator.
