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Anonymous Plaintiff Seeks Legal Title to $293 Billion in Dormant Bitcoin

Anonymous Plaintiff Seeks Legal Title to $293 Billion in Dormant Bitcoin

A New York lawsuit by Noah Doe and two Wyoming LLCs seeks title to 39,069 dormant Bitcoin addresses under lost-property law, raising broader questions about how inactive coins can be challenged without private keys.

BTC

Fact Check
The claim is corroborated by multiple independent sources. Bitcoin Magazine and Galaxy Research both confirm a pseudonymous 'Noah Doe' plus two Wyoming LLCs filed in New York Supreme Court seeking title to exactly 39,069 dormant Bitcoin addresses (~3.8M BTC, ~$293B) under lost/abandoned-property law without holding private keys. Crypto.news and cryptonews.com further corroborate the parties, count, jurisdiction, and lost-property theory.
Summary

A pseudonymous plaintiff known as Noah Doe, joined by two Wyoming limited liability companies, filed suit in New York Supreme Court seeking a declaration of ownership over 39,069 dormant Bitcoin addresses holding about 3.8 million BTC, valued by the source at roughly $293 billion. The complaint relies on New York Personal Property Law Article 7-B, arguing that dormant Bitcoin addresses qualify as lost property and that delivering USB drives with address data to the NYPD satisfied the statute’s deposit requirement. According to Galaxy Digital, many targeted addresses include wallets linked by the Patoshi pattern to Satoshi Nakamoto, a wallet holding Bitcoin stolen in the 2011 Mt. Gox hack, and a Counterparty burn address. The newer report frames the case as part of a novel tactic by anonymous actors to challenge apparently abandoned Bitcoin, while Ripple CTO Emeritus David Schwartz and other observers question the legal basis and note that any court win would still not let the claimant move BTC without private keys, though it could create a cloud on title at regulated exchanges or custodians.

Terms & Concepts
  • Private keys: Cryptographic credentials that allow a Bitcoin holder to sign transactions and control coins on the network.
  • Dormant Bitcoin: Bitcoin held in addresses that have remained inactive for long periods, often prompting questions about whether the assets are lost, abandoned, or simply untouched.
  • OP_RETURN: A Bitcoin transaction field used to embed small pieces of data, such as text or links, onchain.