The New York Supreme Court temporarily halted the process in the case targeting approximately 40 thousand dormant Bitcoin wallets. The decision, signed by Judge Kathy J. King on June 4 and recorded on June 5, blocked the way for judgment to be given in the absence of the defendant wallets for now.
39,069 wallets are at the center of the case
In the filing, ABC Company, XYZ Company and Noah Doe claim 39,069 Bitcoin wallets based on New York’s lost and found provisions. The plaintiffs argue that these addresses, which have not been processed for a long time, can be considered lost property in terms of state law, and if the owners do not appear within a certain period of time, ownership may pass to the party who finds them.
According to Galaxy Research analysts, the 39,069 targeted addresses hold approximately 3.8 million BTC in total. The current value of this amount was calculated to be approximately 234 billion dollars. On the other hand, the value of each wallet was shown to be less than $10 in the lawsuit petition; The reason given was that it was extremely difficult to access assets without a private key.
According to Galaxy Research data, 39,069 targeted addresses hold approximately 3.8 million BTC, and the market value of this amount is approaching $234 billion.
The list includes 2011’s Mt. The 1Feex wallet, which has long been associated with the Gox attack, is also included. It was reported that some addresses matched structures defined by Galaxy Research as the Patoshi pattern from the Satoshi era.
Amicus brief application may affect the direction of the case
M&A attorney Ian R. Cohen filed an opinion with the court as amicus curiae on May 29. In the 26-page text, it was argued that the lost property regulation in New York could only be applied when actual possession could be established over a physical and tangible object. Cohen noted that blockchain addresses cannot be placed in a custodial room, so the provisions in question cannot be moved to Bitcoin wallets.
Mini dictionary: Amicus curiae means a person or institution that is not a party to the case but submits a legal assessment to the court. In U.S. law, especially in technical or public interest cases, such opinions can be helpful to the court’s evaluation.
Cohen also noted a statement in the plaintiffs’ own petition. In paragraph 27 of the amended application, it was stated that wallet owners lost access to assets due to a security issue. According to Cohen, this phrase indicates forced inactivity rather than abandonment.
A wallet whose private key has been stored on a steel plate in a bank vault and has been dormant for ten years is not considered abandoned; It is considered a securely stored asset.
Cohen also reminded that the New York legislature changed the orphan asset regulation in 2022 to include virtual currencies, and that dormant crypto assets are directed to the State Comptroller’s office, not to private individuals. The court will consider whether this opinion text will be accepted into the file at the oral hearing on July 14.
Wallet movements attracted attention
According to the file, Noah Doe marked these wallets with an algorithm of his own and delivered the USB drives to the 17th precinct of the New York Police Department between December 2024 and April 2025. A blockchain expert then sent OP_RETURN messages to each address, directing them to the abandonment notification page. Wallets that did not respond within 90 days were considered abandoned.
Galaxy Research described this study as the Great Bitcoin Dusting in October. According to the research, approximately 41 thousand OP_RETURN messages were sent to wallets holding approximately 2.3 million BTC in total. Analysts Zack Pokorny and Will Owens wrote that the person running the operation knew the Bitcoin network at an advanced technical level and took careful steps to hide his tracks.
After the lawsuit was filed, movement was seen in some defendant wallets. Alex Thorn, Head of Research at Galaxy Research, reported that 47.26 BTC was moved from the defendant wallet number 37,923 on June 6. The value of this amount was calculated to be approximately 3 million dollars. Another wallet, which was reported to have been dormant since March 2011, transferred 35.55 BTC, or approximately $2.2 million, on June 2. These transactions led to evaluations that some wallet owners may be aware of the judicial process.
