So, someone used an "algorithm" to track down inactive Bitcoin wallets, reported them as lost property to the NYC Police, and is now trying to get legal ownership through a lawsuit.
We're talking about 39,069 wallets with around 3.8M BTC, which is roughly $285 billion.
Here's the official paperwork: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/694884477ae7ad3f7b78981b/t/6a038dcea3e5b83386bf21a4/1778617806647/2026-05-01+%5B21%5D-%5B22%5D+Summons+%26+Amended+Complaint.pdf
You might want to check the list. Your Bitcoin address could be on there.
Sounds wild, but we all know that:
* without the private key or mnemonic phrase, there's no way to access those BTC
* no court has any say over this bitcoin
* trying to stake a claim to Satoshi's wallet through some legal loophole isn't gonna work.
Exactly what i had in mind also. The person, I don't know what word to use. How will he access it? He have nothing used to access it or he thinks the US government controls Bitcoin. Very absurd. I really want to see how he is gonna access those Bitcoin. Good luck to him.
It's truly crazy because everyone can do that if it is accepted. Dormant Bitcoin addresses (not wallets) can be easily found but what is an assumption for dormant addresses. I guess that it's only an arbitrary threshold from this person but the other people can have their own arbitrary thresholds too.
With different thresholds of inactive UTXOs, there will be different numbers for possible lost bitcoins and dormant bitcoins.
https://www.bitcoinmagazinepro.com/charts/hodl-waves/
This is very similar to Lost bitcoins number that can not be agreed by many people. The fact proves that possibly lost bitcoins woke up many times, so dormant addresses will wake up some times.
No signed message from any address, no proof of Bitcoin wallet and bitcoin ownership.
Does Craig Wright have a Craig Wright Jr? This looks like his kid tried to continue the heritage business of stealing and claiming stranger property as theirs.
What happens when one of the Wallets wakes up? This is a really bad attempt at stealing. This much effort to claim rights to the Addresses but zero brain effort to even think how this could ever end in their favor.
I'm wondering: basically what this guy wants to do is that if one of the owners realize a transaction from one of these wallets (in reality, addresses), claim that the private key is now known but that the wallets are now his legal property, right?
Or is he preparing for Quantum Day to be able to claim all these Bitcoins once a QC exists that can run Shor's algorithm?
That part is hilarious:
Yes, a small "challenge". But didn't directory.io exist?
It seems he also sent OP_RETURN messages (according to the text, an "advanced blockchain technique" LOL) to all addresses according to page 8. So he seems to have invested some money in transaction fees as that were thousands of "wallets" he "notified" this way.
Um, the property is NOT LOCATED in New York. It is in the internet and is not in ANY particular physical location.
With abandoned bank accounts, stock & bonds, etc. they are held by businesses which in turn ARE located in or registered to a physical location. Claims against them can be filed in the jurisdictions where they are located. That is obviously not the case with BTC.