Bitcoin address dormant for nearly 15 years shows unusual activity, tied to New York lawsuit over ownership of "sleeping bitcoins"

A Bitcoin address dormant for nearly 15 years recently processed its first transfer, sending 30 BTC worth approximately $1.88 million at current prices. Galaxy Research on-chain data shows the address, labeled "1KV47," had not moved any funds since receiving 30 BTC in August 2011, until it sent funds externally for the first time last Saturday local time. This address is one of 39,069 dormant Bitcoin addresses involved in a New York lawsuit. Plaintiff "Noah Doe" and two Wyoming-registered companies are seeking to claim ownership of Bitcoin in these long-inactive addresses under New York State’s abandoned property law. Sani, founder of analytics platform Timechain Index, noted this group of addresses holds roughly 3.7 million BTC, valued at around $234 billion, including an address widely believed to belong to Bitcoin’s creator Satoshi Nakamoto. Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, said activity in dormant addresses linked to the lawsuit has risen sharply recently: 31 addresses transferred 17,527 BTC in June, compared to just 5 addresses moving 4,834 BTC in February this year. However, the legal community generally views the lawsuit as having weak grounds. Last Friday local time, a defendant identifying as "John Doe 33" who claims control over one of the addresses filed a motion to dismiss the suit, arguing Bitcoin addresses are merely data strings and not entities that can be sued. Edwin Mata, CEO and lawyer at tokenization platform Brickken, stated that an address’s long inactivity alone does not prove asset abandonment. Under property law, establishing abandonment typically requires proof that the owner explicitly intended to relinquish their property rights; dormant addresses may stem from long-term cold storage, lost private keys, or holders choosing to hold assets long-term, so they do not sufficiently support the plaintiffs’ claims.