A New York judge has put on hold a lawsuit alleging ownership of 39,069 Bitcoin (BTC) wallets. This law prevents the immediate success of unknown plaintiffs before the court on July 14.
Justice Kathy J. King signed the order on June 4. The wallets are about 3.8 million BTC, which is about $235 billion at today’s prices.
What Dormant Bitcoin Wallets Lawsuit Wants
An anonymous plaintiff named Noah Doe and two companies filed the lawsuit in March. They expanded it on May 1 to cover 39,069 bags.
They rely on the New York law of loss-and-gain. The finder can keep the lost property if the owner does not want to find it. Courts have never applied to crypto.
Their unnamed expert bought each bag for under $10. Galaxy Research reading materials that the average mentioned wallet is holding 97.25 BTC, about $6 million today.
The first challenger wallet contains 79,957 BTC from the 2011 Mt. Gox hack. The The return path of Mt. Gox it still works in Japan, so the claims may conflict.
Galaxy also connects about 21,900 registered addresses, with about 1.1 million BTC, Satoshi Nakamoto’s wallet function. Most live inside quantum-risk of Bitcoin addresses.
Why the Judge Strikes First
The stay followed suit by Ian R. Cohen, a New York attorney who owns bitcoin. He asked for a friend of the court brief to argue the case.
Cohen says the law covers physical things that a person can take and handle. Bitcoin lives on a public blockchain that everyone can see, so it’s never lost.
“A wallet that’s been there for ten years, whose private key is kept on a metal lock in a bank vault, is never left behind. It’s a secure asset,” Cohen said. he wrote in his proposed summary.
They are also talking about 2022 the law which sends unlimited crypto to the government, not to private investors.
Chain data helps him. When blockchain notifications came out in 2025, 339 listed wallets moved money, according to some sources. Satoshi-era wallet flows.
The plaintiffs have until July 7 to respond. A hearing on July 14 will decide whether the case will get its original statement of defense.
A note NY Judge Stalls Case Alleging 39,069 Bitcoin Wallets Abandoned Until July Hearing appeared for the first time BeInCrypto.
