Lawsuit claims ownership of 3.7M dormant BTC as 'abandoned property'

A lawsuit has been filed in New York claiming ownership of approximately 39,069 dormant Bitcoin wallet addresses. The plaintiff argues that the wallets, which have seen no activity for an extended period, qualify as "abandoned property" under New York's lost property law, Cointelegraph reported. The plaintiff claims to have discovered the wallets and reported them to the New York Police Department (NYPD), asserting they can be treated similarly to dormant accounts or lost assets in the traditional financial system. The lawsuit targets addresses believed to belong to Satoshi Nakamoto and the Mt. Gox hacker, which are estimated to hold a combined total of around 3.7 million BTC. However, market analysts note that the suit is unlikely to be enforceable, as the BTC cannot be accessed without the private keys.