The revised CLARITY Act now includes language that explicitly protects self-custodied digital assets from being treated as abandoned property due to inactivity. Galaxy Head of Firmwide Research Alex Thorn highlighted the new provision, stating it would shield dormant wallets—including those linked to Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto—from state forfeiture claims based solely on on-chain dormancy.
Thorn noted that many observers overlooked the added section, which declares that lawfully self-custodied digital assets cannot become abandoned, unclaimed, forfeited, or subject to similar property claims. Crucially, the federal provisions would override conflicting state abandoned property laws that target inactive private wallets, while also preserving the right to use hardware or software wallets without intermediaries.
Galaxy Research connected the updated language to the Noah Doe litigation, a legal dispute involving a pseudonymous plaintiff seeking title to over 39,000 dormant Bitcoin addresses—including thousands attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto. The firm’s earlier report had flagged a campaign of OP_RETURN messages aimed at building evidence for such claims, and the new bill directly counters that strategy by preventing inactivity alone from serving as a legal basis for ownership.
Separately, at the BFC event in New York, BitGo CRO Chen Fang discussed how regulatory clarity from measures like the CLARITY Act could unlock a wave of global crypto business opportunities. He emphasized that passage of the bill might accelerate institutional interest in blockchain technology, as banks worldwide are reportedly prepared to adopt crypto services once clear guidelines are in place. The combined developments underscore a positive shift for self-custody rights and institutional engagement.
