Digital Chamber amicus brief urges dismissal of NY lawsuit over 39,069 Bitcoin wallets
Summary
The Digital Chamber filed an amicus brief in a New York lost-property lawsuit that seeks ownership of 39,069 dormant Bitcoin addresses, including some linked to Satoshi Nakamoto. It argues that treating inactive self-custody wallets as abandoned property would create uncertainty over title for crypto wallets and could harm digital property rights and even traditional finance. The case, brought by “Noah Doe” and two Wyoming companies, could set a precedent for how inactive crypto is handled under state lost-property law. The wallets are estimated to hold about 3.7 million BTC worth roughly $234 billion. Some of the named wallets have recently moved funds, but control of the assets would still depend on access to the private keys.
