Woofun AI reports that a motion to dismiss has been filed in a New York lawsuit involving 39,069 dormant Bitcoin addresses, with the defendant asserting these addresses are merely data strings rather than legal entities. The filing, submitted by the pseudonymous 'John Doe 33,' contends that Bitcoin addresses cannot be sued because they lack personhood or legal standing under the court's jurisdiction.

The procedural filing occurred on Thursday, when 'John Doe 33' submitted a notice of appearance and motion to dismiss, identifying themselves as the controller of one specific wallet named in the complaint. This legal maneuver directly challenges the lawsuit initiated in May by plaintiff 'Noah Doe' alongside two Wyoming-based limited liability companies, ABC Company and XYZ Company. The defendant argues the case is fundamentally flawed because a public Bitcoin address cannot be legally 'found' under New York's lost-property statutes given its perpetual visibility on the blockchain.

Plaintiffs maintain that the Bitcoin associated with the listed addresses constitutes abandoned property, a claim they reportedly filed with the New York Police Department before invoking New York lost-property law. The complaint encompasses 39,069 Bitcoin addresses, a list that notably includes wallets widely attributed to Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto and the Mt. Gox hacker. Regardless of the court's eventual ruling on ownership, the plaintiffs face the practical hurdle of recovering any Bitcoin without possessing the private keys required to access these wallets.

Woofun AI data shows the collective value of the listed wallets is estimated at 3.7 million BTC, totaling approximately $234 billion, according to Sani, founder of the Bitcoin analytics platform Timechain Index. Specific analysis highlights that 'John Doe 33' controls a wallet holding 5,000 BTC received in April 2014, which has remained untouched for more than 12 years and is now worth over $300 million. In a Friday X post, Galaxy Digital head of research Alex Thorn noted this holding is roughly 100 times the median defendant address, characterizing the defendant as a 'real holder with real standing choosing to fight.' Thorn further stated that the filing prevented a 'near-certain' default judgment while exposing jurisdictional and statutory defects in the plaintiffs' case.

The broader market context reveals significant capital immobility, with 3.5 million BTC, valued at about $215 billion, remaining dormant for the past 10 years.

Additionally, another 6.6 million coins, worth around $406 billion, have been inactive for over five years. This filing represents a critical legal test for the classification of cryptocurrency assets within traditional property frameworks.