A New York lawsuit claims Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin is “Lost Property” worth under $10 per wallet

A New York court case, filed by a pseudonymous plaintiff—Noah Doe—along with two Wyoming entities, ABC Company and XYZ Company, is attempting to seize control of 39,069 dormant Bitcoin addresses. The addresses allegedly hold nearly 3.8 million BTC, roughly 18 % of Bitcoin’s capped supply, valued at an estimated $286 billion. The suit’s core argument hinges on treating these dormant wallets as lost property, asserting that owners have abandoned them because the addresses cannot be accessed due to a technical flaw.

The complaint invokes New York’s lost‑property statute, arguing that the wallets are “abandoned” because a flaw has rendered the private keys unusable. Salomon Brothers reportedly employed Bitcoin’s OP_RETURN feature to publish legal notices on the dormant wallets, claiming a right to seize them under the “Doctrine of Abandonment” if owners failed to respond within 90 days. After the campaign, hundreds of addresses moved coins and were removed from the lawsuit, leaving only those that remained silent.

The plaintiffs’ case rests on an attempt to fit dormant Bitcoin addresses into a legal framework that was never designed for digital assets. Critics point out that the statute has never been applied to cryptocurrency, raising doubts about its applicability and the viability of the lawsuit.

Ripple’s CTO Emeritus blasts the claim

David Schwartz, Ripple’s former Chief Technology Officer, publicly denounced the lawsuit as “questionable reasoning” and warned that a victory could have “serious implications” for Bitcoin users. Schwartz emphasized that the case’s foundation is weak, citing the lack of precedent and the impossibility of proving abandonment in the same way one would for a physical bank account. He also highlighted the potential chilling effect on dormant wallets, which many holders keep inactive by choice or due to lost keys.

Market context and current valuation

Bitcoin’s price remains highly volatile. As of 28 May 2026, the cryptocurrency closed at $0.329932 USD. Its 52‑week high, reached on 13 August 2025, was $1.50534, while the 52‑week low, recorded on 27 May 2026, fell to $0.325004. The lawsuit’s claim that the 39,069 addresses contain $286 billion—derived from a 2025 market price—does not align with the current price level, underscoring the speculative nature of the valuation used in the complaint.

Implications for the broader crypto community

If the court were to side with the plaintiffs, it could set a precedent for treating dormant crypto holdings as abandoned, potentially opening the floodgates for similar claims across other digital assets. The crypto community, already wary of legal uncertainty, would face increased scrutiny over wallet ownership and the definition of abandonment in a digital context.

The lawsuit is still in its early stages, and it remains to be seen whether a New York court will interpret the lost‑property statute in a manner that accommodates the unique characteristics of blockchain technology. Until then, the claim that Bitcoin belongs to “Satoshi Nakamoto” remains a contentious and unsubstantiated assertion, challenged by legal experts, industry leaders, and the market itself.