$2.48B BTC transfers challenge ‘lost’ Bitcoin wallets in Satoshi lawsuit
A lawsuit claiming dormant Bitcoin wallets are abandoned property faces a challenge as billions in BTC are transferred from those addresses.Summary
A legal maneuver to seize title to billions of dollars in dormant Bitcoin, including assets attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto, has encountered a fundamental flaw. The plaintiffs, two anonymous Wyoming limited liability companies, filed a lost-property lawsuit seeking to claim 39,069 inactive Bitcoin addresses. However, 52 of these specific addresses have transferred roughly 34,335 Bitcoin, worth approximately $2.48 billion at current market valuations. This on-chain activity directly contradicts the plaintiffs' core legal premise that the addresses are abandoned property. Pro-Bitcoin attorney Ian Cohen argued that self-custodied Bitcoin is not abandoned property and that the state lacks jurisdiction over cryptographic keys. In response, a New York Supreme Court Justice granted a stay on the proceedings. The transfer of assets proves the plaintiffs' targeting algorithm failed to differentiate between abandoned wallets and long-term cold storage. Industry experts warn that a default judgment could grant legal title to 3.799 million BTC, including coins suspected of belonging to Satoshi, potentially leading to years of aggressive litigation and ownership disputes.
(Source：Google News)