The Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI) has joined a major court case in New York over a lawsuit that aims to claim ownership of about 3.7 million bitcoin. The bitcoin includes coins believed to belong to Bitcoin's creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. BPI says the lawsuit could affect the rights of people who keep their bitcoin in long-term storage.

BPI asked the court for permission to join the case as a defendant before a hearing scheduled for July 14. The organization says the lawsuit could set a dangerous legal precedent for bitcoin owners who choose not to move their coins for a long time.

The lawsuit was filed by a person using the name Noah Doe and two Wyoming-based companies. They want a New York court to declare them the legal owners of 39,069 Bitcoin wallet addresses. They argue that the wallets have been inactive for years and should now be treated as abandoned property under New York law.

The plaintiffs say they found the wallet addresses using their own software. They then gave the list of addresses to the New York Police Department and sent messages to the wallets using Bitcoin's OP_RETURN feature. After waiting 90 days without getting any replies, they asked the court to give them ownership of the wallets.

The wallets named in the lawsuit are believed to hold about 3.7 million BTC. This includes around 1.1 million bitcoin linked to Satoshi-era wallets and nearly 80,000 BTC connected to the 2011 Mt. Gox hack. Together, the coins are worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

BPI says the lawsuit is based on a misunderstanding of how Bitcoin works. The organization argues that many people purposely leave their bitcoin untouched for years.

It could also be argued that this is not a misunderstanding at all, but rather an effort by the plaintiffs to exploit the legal system for their own benefit.

Simply because a wallet has not been used does not mean its owner has abandoned it.
Conner Brown, BPI's managing director, said the organization also keeps some of its bitcoin in long-term self-custody. He said that reserve "has the same features as the so-called 'Abandoned Wallets'" listed in the lawsuit.

Brown warned that if the plaintiffs win, people and organizations could feel forced to move their bitcoin or store it with a third-party company just to avoid similar legal claims in the future.

BPI also says that Bitcoin wallet addresses cannot legally be considered "found" property because they are already visible on the public blockchain. It argues that New York's lost-property law was written for physical items, not digital assets like bitcoin.

The organization, represented by the law firm White & Case, has denied most of the claims made in the lawsuit. It has also filed 15 legal defenses and plans to ask the court to dismiss the case.

More people and organizations are now opposing the lawsuit.

The Digital Chamber, an advocacy group for the blockchain, Bitcoin, and the digital asset industry, decided to join the case by filing an amicus brief. Bitcoin lawyer Ian Cohen has also asked the court for permission to file an amicus brief against the lawsuit.