Benjamin Pasternak, founder of the Solana-based token launchpad Believe, was arrested Tuesday on criminal charges tied to a March 31 incident, court records show. New York State filings list one count of second-degree strangulation and two counts of third-degree assault with intent to cause physical injury; Pasternak has pleaded not guilty and is due back in court on June 11.
The arrest lands amid parallel civil pressure. A class action filed March 23 in the Southern District of New York accuses Pasternak of misrepresenting his stake in Believe’s tokens while collecting creator fees on trades, failing to follow through on at least a dozen public buyback promises, and executing a token migration that allegedly diluted holders by roughly 33%. The plaintiffs claim Pasternak “ran the same play three times, under three different token names” — $PASTERNAK, $LAUNCHCOIN and $BELIEVE — as the Believe platform processed about $6 billion in trading volume and reportedly extracted some $54 million in fees.
According to the complaint, token holders who did not convert by the October 29, 2025 migration deadline had their balances permanently destroyed; the suit estimates consumer losses in the “hundreds of millions” of dollars. The filing brings six causes of action spanning New York consumer protection law, California false advertising statutes and various common-law theories, and asks the court for remedies including an injunction to freeze on-chain assets such as the platform’s flywheel wallet and token treasury.
Pasternak, who co-founded plant-based food company Simulate in early 2018 and sold it in October 2024 after a $50 million Series B at a $260 million valuation, moved into crypto shortly after — launching his first token in January. His crypto activities have invited prior controversy: last year Avi Patel, founder of decentralized data marketplace Kled, alleged Pasternak breached a private OTC-only agreement by selling KLED tokens on the open market during the project’s app launch and again later. Patel’s team reportedly repurchased Pasternak’s position twice OTC, shrinking his stake from 6% to 1.7%.
Market fallout for Believe’s native token has been severe. CoinGecko data show the token is down roughly 99.8% from its May 2025 all-time high of $0.35 and fell nearly 15% on the day to about $0.0007 following the arrest news.
Burwick Law, counsel for the plaintiffs, issued a statement saying, “Our team is personally concerned by the public reports of domestic violence involving Ben Pasternak. Our thoughts are with the alleged victim. As to the federal class action lawsuit against defendant Ben Pasternak, Burwick Law is focused on zealously representing our clients and the proposed class. We do not comment on litigation strategy or anticipated motion practice.”
Decrypt reached out to Believe for comment and did not immediately receive a response. Editor’s note: this story was updated after publication to include comment from Burwick Law.
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