Anonymous plaintiff sues for $293B in Bitcoin tied to Satoshi

An anonymous plaintiff filed a case in New York County Supreme Court seeking legal title to about 3.8 million bitcoin, roughly $293 billion, and named 39,069 addresses that include wallets widely attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto. The complaint was filed March 11 and was expanded on May 1.

The plaintiffs are listed as “Noah Doe” and two Wyoming limited liability companies, ABC Company and XYZ Company. The filings were submitted by attorney David D. Lin of Lewis and Lin LLC in Brooklyn. Noah Doe states he used a proprietary algorithm to identify dormant bitcoin addresses, delivered USB drives listing those addresses to the NYPD’s 17th Precinct as found property, and did not obtain private keys or take possession of any funds.

The complaint invokes Article 7-B of the New York Personal Property Law and relies on Section 257(2), which vests title in a finder after one year when the item’s value falls below a statutory threshold. The plaintiffs rely on a single valuation from an unnamed expert that places the value of each address at under $10, which would trigger the statute’s shortcut for low-value lost property.

An onchain analysis by Galaxy Research found the 39,069 addresses hold about 3,799,629 BTC, worth approximately $293.5 billion at current prices. The analysis reports an average holding of about 97.25 BTC per address and a median holding of 50 BTC. Alex Thorn of Galaxy Research wrote, “The distance between ‘under $10’ and $293.5 billion is a gap of nine orders of magnitude.”

The defendant list includes addresses tied to complex and contested categories. One address linked to the 2011 Mt. Gox theft holds roughly 79,957 BTC and remains subject to investigation. The list includes the Counterparty burn address, which is provably unspendable. A group of 21,923 addresses bearing the Patoshi nonce pattern, a pattern commonly associated with Satoshi, collectively hold an estimated 1.096 million BTC. The list also overlaps with addresses previously associated with Craig Wright: 16,350 of Wright’s 16,404 addresses appear among the defendants.

Plaintiffs obtained court authorization to serve the 39,069 anonymous defendants onchain using OP_RETURN messages that linked to the court pleadings. Galaxy Research verified 98 batch transactions across Bitcoin blocks 950446 to 950576. Each transaction sent 546 satoshis to the targeted addresses alongside a link to the pleadings. The filings include an Affirmation of Service signed by an individual identifying as a blockchain engineer under the name Carlos J. Voltron; searches of public records did not verify that identity.

Noah Doe cited privacy and safety risks, including the possibility of wrench attacks, in a motion for pseudonymity. The complaint seeks a declaratory judgment that title to the named wallets has vested in the plaintiffs. A New York judgment would not provide private keys or direct access to coins but could be presented to a centralized exchange or custodian if any of the named coins arrive at a regulated venue.

A technical default in the case is expected roughly 30 days after service, placing a likely lapse date in late June 2026. Legal observers estimate a low to moderate probability that a court will grant full title-vesting on default and note that judges may require a hearing before issuing broad relief. Alex Thorn described the effect of a judgment as “a cloud on title.”