New York judge pauses bid to claim 39,069 dormant Bitcoin wallets; July hearing set

A New York Supreme Court judge has put on hold a lawsuit seeking to take ownership of nearly 40,000 inactive Bitcoin wallets under the state's Unclaimed Property Law. According to ME News, Judge Kathy J. King issued an order on June 5 staying all proceedings tied to claims by plaintiff Noah Doe and others over 39,069 long-inactive Bitcoin addresses under Article 7B of New York's Personal Property Law. The plaintiffs argue the wallets are "abandoned" and say they delivered abandonment notices by embedding on-chain OP_RETURN messages to the relevant addresses. The stay blocks any steps related to the ownership bid, including motions for default judgment or damage assessments, until a July 14 hearing on whether the court will accept third-party amicus briefs. Attorney Ian R. Cohen has already filed an amicus brief opposing the effort. His arguments include: New York's Unclaimed Property Law addresses tangible property and the plaintiffs have never taken possession of the wallets; the addresses have always been publicly visible on the blockchain and were not "lost"; the plaintiffs do not control the private keys and cannot exercise control over the assets even with a court judgment; and New York's 2022 amendments to its Abandoned Property Law classify dormant virtual currency as property held in custody by the State Comptroller, not subject to private claims. The plaintiffs have not submitted a response to Cohen's filing. Their deadline to do so is July 7. (Source: Foresight News)