The Bitcoin Policy Institute just filed to intervene as a defendant in a New York lawsuit that should concern every bitcoiner who self-custodies.
A pseudonymous plaintiff "Noah Doe" is trying to use New York's 1958 lost-and-found property law to claim ownership of ~39,069 dormant bitcoin addresses holding an estimated 3.8 million BTC (~$293B).
The argument is if your bitcoin hasn't moved in 5+ years, anyone can download your public address, report it to the NYPD as "found property," and claim it's theirs.
The addresses targeted include wallets linked to the Mt. Gox hack, the Counterparty burn address, and 21,000+ addresses attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto.
Matthew Boyer is stepping in because they hold bitcoin long-term, just like millions of other HODLers, and this legal theory would criminalize the most basic principle of self-custody, holding.
Inactivity is not abandonment. A public address is not "found property." And a law written for lost wallets and umbrellas has no business being applied to the Bitcoin blockchain.
A hearing is set for July 14. The outcome could set major precedent for property rights in bitcoin.
A pseudonymous plaintiff "Noah Doe" is trying to use New York's 1958 lost-and-found property law to claim ownership of ~39,069 dormant bitcoin addresses holding an estimated 3.8 million BTC (~$293B).
The argument is if your bitcoin hasn't moved in 5+ years, anyone can download your public address, report it to the NYPD as "found property," and claim it's theirs.
The addresses targeted include wallets linked to the Mt. Gox hack, the Counterparty burn address, and 21,000+ addresses attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto.
Matthew Boyer is stepping in because they hold bitcoin long-term, just like millions of other HODLers, and this legal theory would criminalize the most basic principle of self-custody, holding.
Inactivity is not abandonment. A public address is not "found property." And a law written for lost wallets and umbrellas has no business being applied to the Bitcoin blockchain.
A hearing is set for July 14. The outcome could set major precedent for property rights in bitcoin.
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