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Satoshi-era bitcoin at center of $285 billion lawsuit moves after 14 years
The 1LwWt address received a legal notice from Salomon Brothers via Bitcoin’s OP_RETURN field in July 2025 demanding the owner prove ownership by November 5, 2025.
Jun 6, 2026, 1:30 p.m. 2 min read
What to know:
- A long-dormant Bitcoin address holding 35.55 BTC since March 2011 moved its coins this week, marking one of the first visible on-chain responses from a named defendant in a sweeping New York lawsuit over 39,069 wallets.
- The case, brought by a pseudonymous plaintiff “Noah Doe” and two Wyoming LLCs, seeks legal ownership of about 3.8 million BTC under New York’s lost-property statute, with defendants notified via OP_RETURN dust transactions embedded on the blockchain.
- The wallet’s move, along with a separate transfer from another 2011-era address, comes amid a sharp Bitcoin price slide and highlights that some so-called Satoshi-era coins targeted as abandoned are in fact still controlled by their original holders.
The original coins were received on March 27, 2011, when bitcoin traded at less than a dollar.
The lawsuit, filed March 11, 2026 at the New York County Supreme Court under index number 153119/2026 and amended on May 1, names a pseudonymous plaintiff identified only as Noah Doe along with two Wyoming LLCs holding assigned interests, ABC Company and XYZ Company.
The plaintiffs seek legal ownership of roughly 3.8 million bitcoin valued at approximately $285 billion under New York Personal Property Law Article 7-B, the state’s lost-property statute, with Noah Doe positioned as a “finder” under abandoned-property doctrine.
