Lawsuit Targets 3.8M BTC Under CLARITY Act Provision

A lawsuit filed by Noah Doe and two companies is claiming nearly 18% of Bitcoin's total supply, approximately 3.8 million BTC, using New York's lost-property law.

The plaintiffs argue that the coins are considered lost property because their owners have not claimed them after years of inactivity, and they point to police reports, OP_RETURN notices, and attempts to contact possible owners as evidence.

The lawsuit is being watched closely as it tests a provision in the CLARITY Act draft that would protect self-custodied digital assets from inactivity-based abandonment claims.

Section 20216 of the CLARITY Act draft defines a self-custodied digital asset as one where the owner keeps exclusive control of the private keys without relying on a custodian, exchange or intermediary, and it protects continued ownership of lawfully self-custodied digital assets from claims based solely on inactivity.