The Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI), a non-profit research group, has formally stepped in to fight a lawsuit seeking to claim ownership of about 3.7 million bitcoins.
The case, filed in New York County Supreme Court, says bitcoin that has been left untouched for years should be treated as “abandoned property” under state law. The plaintiffs, led by a guy named Noah Doe, are using New York’s lost-and-found law, Section 7-B of the Personal Property Law, to get a judge to declare them the owners of nearly 39,000 wallets that haven’t transferred money in years.
BPI joins the fight to acquire Bitcoin founder coins
The Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI) announced through a post on X that I stepped forward to intervene As a defendant in a case involving 3.7 million Bitcoin.
This includes about 1.10 million BTC from Satoshi-era addresses and nearly 80,000 BTC linked to the 2011 Mt.Gox hack.
The plaintiffs claim they “found” the dormant wallet addresses, reported them to the NYPD, sent on-chain messages using Bitcoin’s OP_RETURN field to try to contact the owners, waited 90 days, and then asked a court to declare the wallets abandoned.
The Bitcoin Policy Institute, represented by the law firm White & Case, did just that Provided a suggested answer15 affirmative defenses, and plans to file a motion to dismiss.
Judge Kathy J. King has since paused the case until a hearing on July 14. Two amicus briefs have already been filed against the plaintiffs’ claims, one from attorney Ian Cohen and the other from the Digital Chamber, a blockchain trade group.
Galaxy research Estimate the target Coins worth about $274 billion in late May. However, the plaintiffs may never be able to obtain that money, as analysts have indicated that their claim is unenforceable.
Cryptopolitan I mentioned Last May, Bitcoin did not have a mechanism to reallocate funds without the wallet’s private key. The plaintiffs admitted that they did not have these keys.
Galaxy Research Director Alex Thorne pointed out That the plaintiffs have already dropped 44 addresses from the case after those wallets transferred coins after the lawsuit was filed. This alone refutes the claim that these wallets were truly abandoned.
Who else is after the coins?
before Bitcoin Policy Institute intervenes To kill the case, a pseudonymous defendant calling himself John Doe filed 33 verified answers and affirmative defenses on July 8, appearing professionally and saying his portfolio exceeded $80 billion when the case was filed.
John Doe 33 argues that public Bitcoin addresses are not legal persons and cannot be sued. Prosecutors simply copied the public address data onto a USB drive, which does not mean anyone’s coins were found or in possession. He went on to point out that OP_RETURN messages are a poor method of notification because many wallets never display them, and cold storage users have no reason to check. It is also alleged that a specific owner had already contacted the plaintiffs’ attorneys by telephone, refuting the claim that the owners were unknown and unreachable.
Memoirs from two friends also preceded the transfer of the institute. Attorney Ian Cohen filed the first suit on May 29, arguing that inactive coins cannot be treated as lost or abandoned property under New York law, because that only applies to physical objects like jewelry or cash.
The blockchain company’s trade group Digital Chamber filed the second application on July 7 with the help of consulting firm CahillNXT and Brown Rudnick attorney Stephen Paley.
