A July 14 hearing is set on a proposed amicus brief as the court pauses the case, where plaintiffs are invoking New York abandoned property law to claim dormant Bitcoin wallets.
A New York Supreme Court judge has paused a lawsuit seeking ownership of 39,069 dormant Bitcoin wallets and scheduled a July 14 hearing on a proposed amicus brief. The plaintiffs, pseudonymous "Noah Doe" and two shell companies, are relying on New York abandoned property law in an effort to claim the wallets. Attorney Ian R. Cohen has argued that the statute applies to tangible property and that, without the private keys, a court cannot meaningfully transfer control of the assets. The case highlights a basic tension in crypto-related litigation: legal claims over wallets may not translate into practical control unless the cryptographic credentials needed to move the funds are available.