Simply put
- Benjamin Pasternak has been charged with strangulation and assault following an incident on March 31.
- Pasternak pleaded not guilty during his arraignment and is set to appear in court again in June.
- This arrest adds to his ongoing legal issues concerning alleged fraudulent token sales.
Benjamin Pasternak, who is known for founding the Solana-based token launchpad Believe, was arrested on Tuesday. He is facing one count of second-degree strangulation and two counts of third-degree assault linked to the March incident.
Pasternak has entered a not guilty plea, with his next court date scheduled for June 11.
In addition to the recent charges, Pasternak is dealing with civil claims. A class action lawsuit filed on March 23 in the Southern District of New York accuses him of making deceptive claims. The lawsuit states that while he claimed to have “zero ownership” of the Believe platform’s tokens, Pasternak supposedly collected fees on every transaction, violated numerous public buyback commitments, and executed token transfers that diluted ownership by about 33%.
The complaint alleges that he used the same approach three times with different tokens: $PASTERNAK, $LAUNCHCOIN, and $BELIEVE. The Believe platform reportedly processed around $6 billion in trading volume and earned approximately $54 million in fees.
According to the lawsuit, holders who do not exchange their tokens by the October 29, 2025 deadline risk losing their holdings entirely, which could result in consumer losses reaching hundreds of millions.
The lawsuit includes six claims based on New York’s Consumer Protection Act, California’s False Advertising Act, and various common law theories. Plaintiffs are also requesting an injunction to prevent the freezing of on-chain assets.
Pasternak co-founded the plant-based food company Simulate in early 2018, and it raised $50 million at a valuation of $260 million before selling the company in October 2024. The company’s first crypto token was launched in January the following year.
In a related development, Avi Patel, the founder of a decentralized data marketplace called Kled, accused Pasternak of selling KLED tokens in violation of a private agreement during the project’s launch and subsequent updates.
Patel claimed Pasternak sold over 1% of KLED’s supply during the project’s initial launch and that the Cred team later had to buy back Pasternak’s stake, reducing it from 6% to 1.7%.
The native token of the Believe platform has experienced a significant drop, losing 99.8% of its value since hitting an all-time high of $0.35 in May 2025. It recently dropped nearly 15% to approximately $0.0007.
Max Berwick, founder of Berwick Law, expressed concern over the domestic violence allegations against Pasternak, while emphasizing the firm’s commitment to representing their clients in the class action lawsuit. They have not commented on specific strategies or anticipated claims.
Beliet did not provide an immediate response to a request for comment.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated with comments from Berwick Law since its initial publication.
