CoinDesk
A Bitcoin address dormant since March 2011 moved 15 of its 35.55 BTC earlier this week, becoming the first publicly visible on-chain response from inside an active New York lawsuit that claims legal title to roughly 3.8 million bitcoin valued at approximately $285 billion. The wallet, 1LwWtSs7tMCwcRczQd5kVMv3xpWw6w4Sxe, sent 15 BTC to a new address and held the remaining 20.55 BTC as change in transaction b90755b at 16:46 UTC on June 2, recorded in block 952,104.
Galaxy Research's Alex Thorn flagged the move on Tuesday and identified the wallet as the firm's tracked Noah Doe defendant #38215. "Apparently, they were not, in fact, abandoned," Thorn wrote, framing the move as direct evidence against the plaintiff's central claim.
Why it matters
The plaintiffs — pseudonymous "Noah Doe" plus Wyoming LLCs ABC Company and XYZ Company — filed the case on March 11, 2026 at the New York County Supreme Court under New York Personal Property Law Article 7-B, positioning Noah Doe as a "finder" under abandoned-property doctrine. The court authorized service via OP_RETURN dust transactions, with the 1LwWt wallet served on July 31, 2025 and given a 90-day response window that expired without action until this week's move.
Galaxy's analysis noted that hundreds of wallets moved coins during the original 2025 notice campaign and were excluded from the final defendant list. The 1LwWt move is different — it came after the lawsuit was filed and the wallet was named as a defendant, a sequence that materially weakens the abandonment theory at the heart of the case.
Market impact
A separate 2011-era wallet, 1CDSyXAQxro4FPUoqAQb81642ruqDsUiNp, moved 20 BTC ($1.48M) to a SegWit address roughly 13 hours before the 1LwWt move. That wallet was not named in the lawsuit and did not appear in the notice campaign, suggesting the pattern of old-coin movement is broader than the litigation alone.
The moves landed during a sharp BTC slide toward $70,000, with Strategy's first publicized bitcoin sale, a record 10-session spot ETF outflow streak, and stalled U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks all weighing on price.
Frequently asked questions
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What is the 1LwWt wallet and why did it move?
1LwWtSs7tMCwcRczQd5kVMv3xpWw6w4Sxe held 35.55 BTC untouched since March 27, 2011. On June 2 it sent 15 BTC to a new address and held 20.55 BTC as change — the first publicly visible on-chain response from a named defendant in the Noah Doe New York lawsuit.
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What is the Noah Doe lawsuit about?
Pseudonymous plaintiff Noah Doe plus Wyoming LLCs ABC Company and XYZ Company filed in New York County Supreme Court on March 11, 2026, seeking legal title to roughly 3.8 million BTC (~$285B) under New York Personal Property Law Article 7-B, the state's lost-property statute.
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How were defendants served in the lawsuit?
The court authorized on-chain service via OP_RETURN messages. Salomon Brothers Strategic Advisors broadcast 98 batches of 546-satoshi dust transactions across Bitcoin blocks 950,446 to 950,576 in June and July 2025, each linking to the abandonment notice.
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Why does the wallet's move matter to the case?
Galaxy Research noted hundreds of wallets moved during the original notice campaign and were dropped from the defendant list. The 1LwWt move came after the lawsuit was filed and the wallet was named as a defendant — a sequence that directly undercuts the abandonment theory underpinning the claim.
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Did other old wallets move at the same time?
Yes — Arkham data shows the wallet 1CDSyXAQxro4FPUoqAQb81642ruqDsUiNp moved 20 BTC (~$1.48M) to a SegWit address about 13 hours before the 1LwWt move. That wallet was not named in the suit, suggesting the pattern is broader than the litigation.
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