Benjamin Pasternak, the 26-year-old Australian entrepreneur behind the Solana-based social token platform Believe (formerly Clout.me) has been arrested and charged in New York. Public court records show Pasternak faces counts of second-degree strangulation and assault. According to these records, he is scheduled to appear in New York Criminal Court on June 11, 2026. No police or prosecutorial statement has been issued publicly so far.
Charges: The New York Criminal Court records list second-degree strangulation and assault charges against Pasternak. Both are serious felony offenses under New York law.
Court Date: His next court appearance is set for June 11, 2026, where formal charges are expected to be announced.
Background: Pasternak and the Believe Platform
Benjamin Pasternak is an Australian-born tech entrepreneur known for earlier successes with the launch of Impossible Rush, a mobile game as a teenager. He co-founded the video-chat social app Monkey, which reached 10 million users and was sold in 2017.
In 2018, he co-founded Simulate (parent company of plant-based Nuggs chicken alternatives), raising over $57 million from investors including Alexis Ohanian, Lerer Hippeau, and McCain Foods. Simulate was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2021. Pasternak stepped down as CEO of Simulate in late 2023 amid broader challenges in the plant-based meat sector.
In 2025 he launched Believe, a Solana blockchain launchpad that lets anyone create and trade social tokens by posting on Twitter/X. Believe quickly became prominent in the 2025 memecoin craze.
$PASTERNAK → $LAUNCHCOIN → $BELIEVE: The first token on the platform was named after Pasternak himself, and he publicly claimed he held “0 ownership” of it. That token was later rebranded to $LAUNCHCOIN. In October 2025, all LAUNCHCOIN tokens were forcibly migrated to a new token $BELIEVE at a 1:1 ratio.
Peak Value: LAUNCHCOIN token saw around approximately $313 million market capitalisation as per Coingecko’s data.
Platform Growth: Believe saw massive activity. Users could mint coins via a bonding-curve mechanism simply by tweeting, and early on the platform processed over $6 billion in trading volume, generating roughly $54 million in fees.
However, investors have complained that the token launches were mismanaged. Pasternak and his company are accused of misleading tactics, including false ownership claims, unfulfilled buyback promises, and supply dilution during token migration.
Investor Lawsuit and Token Collapse
On March 23, 2026, U.S. investors filed a class-action lawsuit against Pasternak and associated entities. The complaint alleges that these token offerings defrauded buyers.
Alleged Misstatements: Early investors were told Pasternak held no stake in the tokens, which the lawsuit claims was false.
Unfulfilled Promises: A “flywheel” buyback program was announced multiple times but never implemented.
Forced Migration: In October 2025, token supply increased by 33.3% during migration, despite claims of a smaller increase. Existing holders were diluted and unconverted tokens were burned.
Value Loss: The $BELIEVE token collapsed, losing about 99% of its value from its peak, wiping out hundreds of millions in investor capital.
Prior Controversies Involving Pasternak and Believe
On December 16, 2025, Avi Patel, founder of Kled.ai , publicly accused Benjamin Pasternak of unauthorized open-market sales of $KLED tokens despite prior promises of no open sales and only OTC or burns; Patel stated Pasternak sold over 1% of the supply on September 25, 2025, backed out of four OTC deals, and later resumed heavy DCA selling during Kled’s major app update, after which Kled OTC-purchased part of the position to reduce Pasternak’s holdings from approximately 6% to 3.5% while he still held 2–3 million tokens.
Believe’s social media activity ceased after January 14, 2026, following announcements about a planned “Believe v2” sentiment-tracking feature.
Crypto Market Impact
The arrest news has gave a sharp raise in token’s price making it look like rising from the ashes but it is mostly attributed to bots purchasing the token based on social sentiment. BELIEVE now trades at fractions of a cent, more than 99% below its peak. Its market capitalization has dropped significantly, and earlier tokens are nearly defunct.
Analysts highlight risks in crypto launchpads, particularly centralization of control. Platforms often rely on founders for administrative access, creating vulnerabilities if leadership faces legal issues.
So far, no major disruptions beyond token decline have occurred. The broader Solana ecosystem remains relatively stable and on the other hand Solana Foundation has recently launched STRIDE program to boost ecosystem security.
Next Steps
The June 11, 2026 court date will likely be Pasternak’s initial appearance. He will hear the charges and enter a plea. The case will then proceed through the legal process.
These are allegations, and Pasternak is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The civil lawsuit continues separately and may take longer to resolve.
For now, Pasternak has remained silent publicly, and no official statements have been issued by the Believe team.
We have compiled publicly available court records, filings, and verifiable project data as of April 23, 2026. It is intended solely as a factual reference for readers following crypto project developments and legal matters. Always verify information directly from official government sources.
