Bitcoin wallet from the genesis era—involved in a $28.5 billion lawsuit—transfers funds for the first time after 14 years of dormancy

TechFlow News, June 6: According to CoinDesk, a “Satoshi-era” Bitcoin address—unmoved since March 2011 and holding 35.55 BTC (approximately $2.54 million)—transferred funds this week. On-chain data shows that on June 2, the address sent 15 BTC to a new address, with the remaining 20.55 BTC retained as change. When this address first received Bitcoin, the price was under $1.

This unusual activity marks the first publicly visible response by a defendant in a high-profile New York lawsuit involving roughly 3.8 million BTC (valued at approximately $285 billion). In March, an anonymous plaintiff using the pseudonym “Noah Doe,” together with two Wyoming limited liability companies, filed suit seeking ownership of 39,000 long-dormant Bitcoin wallets under New York’s unclaimed property law. Previously, the court authorized the plaintiff to send dust transactions containing legal notice links via the Bitcoin OP_RETURN field to the relevant wallets, requiring holders to prove ownership within a specified timeframe.

Wallet 1LwWt—listed as Defendant No. 38,215 in the case—executed this transfer, directly countering the plaintiff’s claim that the assets had been abandoned. Alex Thorn, Head of Research at Galaxy Research, commented: “Clearly, these bitcoins have not actually been abandoned.” Additionally, another address—1CDSy—which had lain dormant for 15 years and was not named in the lawsuit—also transferred 20 BTC (approximately $1.48 million) on the same day. Multiple such movements indicate that some early Bitcoin long considered “abandoned assets” remain under the control of their original holders.