A Bitcoin wallet untouched since March 2011 stirred for the first time in 14 years, becoming the first visible on-chain response from a defendant in a sweeping New York lawsuit claiming title to 3.8 million BTC.
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Satoshi-era Bitcoin address moves 15 BTC after $285 billion lawsuit notice
A Satoshi-era Bitcoin address holding 35.55 BTC moved 15 coins on June 2, responding to a $285 billion New York lawsuit that had served notice via the blockchain's OP_RETURN field.
"Apparently, they were not, in fact, abandoned," Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Research, said on X, identifying the wallet as defendant No. 38215 in the Noah Doe litigation.
The wallet, 1LwWtSs7tMCwcRczQd5kVMv3xpWw6w4Sxe, sent 15 BTC to a new address at 16:46 UTC on June 2, recorded in Bitcoin block 952,104, with the remaining 20.55 BTC held as change, per mempool.space data. The original coins were received on March 27, 2011, when bitcoin traded below $1.
The move threatens the core premise of the litigation, which relies on prolonged inactivity as evidence of abandonment under New York Personal Property Law Article 7-B, and comes as bitcoin trades near $61,000 amid a sharp market slide.
The $285 Billion Abandonment Claim
The lawsuit, filed March 11 at the New York County Supreme Court under index number 153119/2026 and amended May 1, names a pseudonymous plaintiff identified as Noah Doe alongside two Wyoming LLCs — ABC Company and XYZ Company — holding assigned interests. The plaintiffs seek legal ownership of roughly 3.8 million bitcoin valued at approximately $285 billion under the state's lost-property statute, with Noah Doe positioned as a finder under abandoned-property doctrine.
The court authorized on-chain service of defendants through OP_RETURN messages, a Bitcoin transaction field that lets users embed text permanently on the blockchain. Noah Doe's blockchain consultant, Salomon Brothers Strategic Advisors, broadcast 98 batches of dust transactions across Bitcoin blocks 950,446 to 950,576 in June and July 2025, each carrying 546 satoshis and a link to the abandonment notice. The 1LwWt wallet was served on July 31, 2025, with a 90-day window to respond that expired Nov. 5.
On-Chain Response and Market Context
The 1LwWt move came nearly seven months after the response window expired and roughly three months after the lawsuit was formally filed. Per Galaxy Research's analysis, hundreds of wallets moved coins during the original notice campaign and were excluded from the final defendant list, but the 1LwWt transfer is among the first publicly visible responses from inside the active case.
A separate 15-year-dormant wallet, 1CDSyXAQxro4FPUoqAQb81642ruqDsUiNp, moved 20 BTC worth about $1.48 million to a SegWit address approximately 13 hours before the 1LwWt transfer, per Arkham Intelligence data. That wallet received its original coins around the same 2011 window but does not appear to have been targeted by the Noah Doe notice campaign.
The movements come during a sharp bitcoin slide that has taken BTC to near $61,000, with Strategy's first publicized bitcoin sale, a record 10-session spot ETF outflow streak, and stalled US-Iran ceasefire talks all weighing on the market. Satoshi-era coins were acquired before bitcoin had a meaningful dollar price, meaning any sale at current levels would mark a near-infinite gain on cost basis.
The 1LwWt transfer signals that some wallets targeted as abandoned remain under the control of their original holders, potentially undermining the legal foundation of the $285 billion claim. If more defendants respond on-chain, the plaintiffs' strategy of claiming title through inactivity could face mounting evidentiary challenges.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
