A Bitcoin address dating back to 2011 has suddenly become active after more than 15 years of inactivity, transferring its entire 75 BTC holdings, worth approximately $5 million, to a new wallet. The movement occurred months after the address was included in a New York lawsuit seeking control of Bitcoin holdings allegedly abandoned by their owners.
The transfer took place Thursday evening and also included a small Bitcoin payment previously sent by the plaintiffs’ legal team to inform the wallet holder about the lawsuit.
The case was filed in New York by an individual identified as Noah Doe and two Wyoming-based companies. The plaintiffs are seeking legal ownership of Bitcoin stored across 39,069 wallet addresses, arguing that funds left untouched for at least five years should be classified as abandoned property under New York law.
The lawsuit covers approximately 3.8 million BTC, including coins attributed to Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. As CoinDesk previously reported, the court authorized the plaintiffs to notify unidentified wallet owners by sending small Bitcoin transactions containing links to the legal filings.
The recently active address was listed as defendant No. 3,419 in the amended complaint. Although the transaction indicates that someone still has access to its private keys, it does not reveal who controls the funds. The wallet’s reactivation also raises questions about the lawsuit’s claim that the Bitcoin holdings had been abandoned.
Bitcoin Transfer Includes Small Legal Notification Payments
On May 22, the wallet received 546 satoshis, worth less than 40 cents at recent prices. The transaction contained the message “COURT-ORDERED LEGAL NOTICE” along with a link to the plaintiffs’ website hosting the legal documents.
One satoshi equals 0.00000001 BTC, making it the smallest divisible unit of Bitcoin.
During Thursday’s transfer, the wallet moved its original 75 BTC alongside the legal notification payment and three other small deposits. One of these additional payments contained a separate notice dated July 2025 from Salomon Brothers Strategic Advisors, the consulting firm appointed by the plaintiffs to reach wallet owners.
All six deposits were combined into a single transaction, leaving the original address with no remaining Bitcoin balance.
This is not the first time a wallet named in the lawsuit has recorded activity. In June, CoinDesk reported that another address holding 35.55 BTC since 2011 transferred 15 BTC and returned the remaining amount to itself through a change transaction.
The 75 BTC remained at its newly assigned address as of Friday evening. Although the transaction confirms that the Bitcoin can still be accessed and spent, it does not establish the identity of the wallet controller or whether the ongoing legal dispute influenced the decision to move the funds.
Even if the plaintiffs secure a favorable judgment, they would not automatically obtain the private keys needed to access the Bitcoin. The lawsuit also acknowledges the uncertainty surrounding recovery, stating that an expert hired by the plaintiffs valued the identified dormant wallets at less than $10 because their underlying funds may be difficult to retrieve.
