Believe Solana Token Launchpad Founder Benjamin Pasternak Arrested on Assault Charges
Benjamin Pasternak, founder of the Solana-based token launchpad Believe, was arrested and charged in New York with one count of second-degree strangulation and two counts of third-degree assault with intent to cause physical injury over a March 31 incident. Pasternak pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to return to court on June 11.
The arrest deepens existing legal pressure tied to Believe’s token sales and migrations. A class action lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York alleges that Pasternak claimed “zero ownership” in Believe tokens while collecting creator fees on every trade, broke at least 12 public buyback promises, and executed a migration that allegedly diluted holders by about 33%. The filing also claims holders who did not convert by the October 29, 2025 migration deadline had balances permanently destroyed.
The lawsuit describes a repeated strategy across multiple token names ($PASTERNAK, $LAUNCHCOIN, $BELIEVE), citing roughly $6 billion in trading volume processed by the Believe platform and an estimated $54 million in fees extracted. Plaintiffs seek an injunction freezing on-chain assets, including the “flywheel” wallet and token treasury.
Market impact: Believe’s native token has reportedly fallen 99.8% from its May 2025 all-time high and was down nearly 15% on the day of publication to about $0.0007, according to CoinGecko data.
Bearish
The headline focuses on criminal charges against the Believe token launchpad founder, but the bigger trading relevance is the overlapping civil case alleging misleading token sales and a harmful migration that permanently destroyed balances. This combination typically increases perceived counterparty risk and raises the probability of asset freezes, refunds/settlements, and further litigation—conditions that have historically weighed on highly speculative launchpad tokens.
Short-term, expect negative sentiment and volatility around Believe-linked tokens, with traders likely to reduce exposure or demand a liquidity discount, especially when the token has already experienced extreme drawdowns (the article cites a ~99.8% drop from the all-time high). News-driven selloffs can accelerate if exchanges/wallets face restrictions due to injunction requests.
Long-term, outcomes could diverge: if courts impose freezes or successful claims trigger compensatory mechanisms, some holders may see eventual downside capped. However, until legal clarity improves, the market often treats such allegations as structural risk to tokenomics and governance, sustaining a bearish regime for related assets on Solana that resemble the same launch/migration pattern.