Benjamin Pasternak, the founder of the Solana-based token launchpad Believe, was taken into custody Tuesday on charges including one count of second-degree strangulation and two counts of third-degree assault with intent to cause physical injury related to an incident on March 31.
Pasternak has entered a not guilty plea and is set for court on June 11, according to records in the New York State Unified Court System. The arrest follows civil allegations against him, including a class action lawsuit filed March 23 in the Southern District of New York. This lawsuit accuses Pasternak of claiming “zero ownership” in Believe’s tokens while reportedly collecting creator fees from every transaction, violating at least 12 public buyback promises, and executing a token migration that allegedly diluted holders by approximately 33%.
The complaint further alleges that Pasternak executed the same strategy under three different token names: $PASTERNAK, $LAUNCHCOIN, and $BELIEVE. The Believe platform processed around $6 billion in trading volume and extracted an estimated $54 million in fees. Holders who did not convert their tokens by the October 29, 2025 migration deadline had their balances permanently destroyed. Consumer losses are estimated to be in the hundreds of millions, per the filing.
The lawsuit brings six claims under New York consumer protection law, California false advertising statutes, and common law theories. Plaintiffs also seek an injunction freezing on-chain assets, including the flywheel wallet and token treasury.
Pasternak co-founded the plant-based food company Simulate in early 2018. The company raised $50 million in a Series B round at a $260 million valuation before being sold in October 2024. He launched his first crypto token the following January.
Last year, Avi Patel, founder of decentralized data marketplace Kled, accused Pasternak of dumping KLED tokens on the open market contrary to a private OTC-only agreement. Patel alleged that Pasternak sold over 1% of the KLED supply during the project’s September app launch and resumed selling in a later update. The Kled team repurchased Pasternak’s position twice, reducing his stake from 6% to 1.7%.
The native token of the Believe platform has plunged 99.8% since its May 2025 all-time high at $0.35 and dropped nearly 15% on the day to a recent price of $0.0007, according to CoinGecko data. Burwick Law, representing the plaintiffs, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Decrypt attempted to reach out to Believe but has yet to receive a response.