Dormant Bitcoin wallet moves US$1.9M after lawsuit

• A Bitcoin wallet dormant for nearly 15 years transferred 30 BTC worth about US$1.88 million.
• The wallet is among thousands of addresses named in a New York lawsuit seeking ownership of inactive Bitcoin holdings.
• Legal experts said inactivity alone does not prove digital assets have been abandoned under property law.

A dormant Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) wallet transferred 30 BTC worth about US$1.88 million for the first time since August 2011, drawing attention because the address is named in a New York lawsuit over inactive cryptocurrency holdings.

Blockchain data shared by Galaxy Research showed wallet "1KV47" made its first outgoing transaction in nearly 15 years, while the lawsuit covers 39,069 dormant Bitcoin addresses that reportedly hold about 3.7 million BTC worth roughly US$234 billion.

A defendant identified as "John Doe 33" filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing Bitcoin addresses are data strings rather than legal entities, while lawyer Edwin Mata said inactivity alone does not establish that property has been abandoned.

The case could influence how courts assess dormant digital assets under New York's lost-property law, and as Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) is a cryptocurrency there is no share price available.

According to Galaxy Research, activity among wallets linked to the lawsuit has increased, with 31 addresses transferring 17,527 BTC in June compared with five addresses moving 4,834 BTC in February.

Legal experts said dormant wallets may simply contain long-term cold storage holdings or coins with inaccessible private keys, making ownership claims difficult without evidence that the assets were intentionally abandoned.

At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $64,031.83.