The blockchain association Digital Chamber has strongly protested a lawsuit seeking to classify inactive Bitcoin wallets as abandoned property. The organization, which unites over 250 market participants — from crypto exchanges to traditional banks — filed an amicus brief with the New York State Supreme Court, urging the dismissal of the case. According to the association's experts, granting such claims would create a dangerous precedent, threatening the very principle of self-custody of digital assets.
The plaintiffs, acting under the pseudonym Noah Doe and on behalf of two Wyoming-based companies, are seeking to claim rights to 42,001 Bitcoin addresses, which they assert are "found property." However, Digital Chamber points to a fundamental error: the "find" was not the wallets themselves, but merely public keys — electronic records of addresses. Moreover, the plaintiffs do not possess the private keys and cannot prove control over the assets.
The association emphasizes that if the court accepts this logic, it would create a "cloud of uncertainty" for the entire crypto industry. Long-term Bitcoin storage and the absence of transactions would begin to be interpreted as abandonment of property. This would impact not only retail investors but also institutional players using cold wallets to store reserves.
A Precedent That Must Not Be Set
The plaintiffs developed an algorithm to search for "sleeping" addresses and even notified their owners via OP_RETURN, giving them 90 days to respond. Of the 42,001 wallets, 2,932 were excluded, including 424 for which on-chain activity was recorded. The remaining 39,069 addresses, according to the plaintiffs, are "abandoned." However, Digital Chamber counters: "The declaration the plaintiffs seek would provide a paper title to property, unconnected to either possession or access to the property."
Bitcoin lawyer Ian Cohen, who also filed an amicus curiae brief, noted that the law on found property is designed for physical objects, not data from a public blockchain. If such assets are considered abandoned, under the law they should revert to the state, not to a private individual. The pseudonymous defendant John Doe 33, associated with a wallet holding 5,000 BTC, has already filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that blockchain address strings cannot be defendants in court.
Sleeping Addresses Awaken
Amid the legal battle, there is an activation of "ancient" wallets. According to Galaxy's head of research, Alex Thorn, in June 2026, 31 addresses from the list moved 17,527 BTC. In February, movement was recorded for only five addresses totaling 4,834 BTC. On July 5, address 1KV47, inactive since August 2011, transferred 30 BTC worth approximately $1.88 million. This is the first movement in nearly 15 years.
The total balance across the 39,069 "sleeping" addresses is estimated at roughly 3.799 million BTC. The list even includes addresses linked to Satoshi Nakamoto and the Mt. Gox hack. It is currently unknown who controls these keys, but the very fact of fund movement suggests that the owners have no intention of abandoning their property.
My comment: This lawsuit is not just a legal oddity but a direct attack on the fundamental principles of decentralization. If the court recognizes the possibility of "appropriating" Bitcoins based on public data, it will undermine trust in the very idea of non-custodial storage. Fortunately, case law and common sense are on the side of the defense. But the industry should prepare for new attempts to challenge the rights of owners of "old" coins.