Imagine Founder Arrested on Strangulation Prices as Token Collapses 99%

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Pasternak, 26, was charged with second-degree strangulation and third-degree assault over a March 31 incident; he has pleaded not responsible, with a court docket date set for June 11. A category motion criticism alleges he “ran the identical play thrice” throughout PASTERNAK, LAUNCHCOIN, and BELIEVE, extracting $54M in charges from roughly $6B in buying and selling quantity. Pasternak was reportedly staying at a $2,000-per-night resort to keep away from civil lawsuit service on the time of his arrest. Three Tokens, One Alleged Playbook Pasternak based Launchcoin, a Solana-based social token launchpad that permits customers to launch tokens tied to on-line personalities and communities. The platform grew shortly, with Launchcoin’s native token reaching a peak market cap of $370 million earlier than a compelled migration reset the desk for current holders.

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-809270 size-full" title="Believe Founder Arrested on Strangulation Charges as Token Collapses 99%" src="https://static.news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/believe-founder-arrested-on-strangulation-charges-as-token-collapses-99-and-class-action-claims-54m-in-extracted-fees_nwmk.jpg" alt="Believe Founder Arrested on Strangulation Charges as Token Collapses 99%" width="1582" height="748" srcset="https://static.news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/believe-founder-arrested-on-strangulation-charges-as-token-collapses-99-and-class-action-claims-54m-in-extracted-fees_nwmk-300x142.jpg 300w, https://static.news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/believe-founder-arrested-on-strangulation-charges-as-token-collapses-99-and-class-action-claims-54m-in-extracted-fees_nwmk-1024x484.jpg 1024w, https://static.news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/believe-founder-arrested-on-strangulation-charges-as-token-collapses-99-and-class-action-claims-54m-in-extracted-fees_nwmk-768x363.jpg 768w, https://static.news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/believe-founder-arrested-on-strangulation-charges-as-token-collapses-99-and-class-action-claims-54m-in-extracted-fees_nwmk-1536x726.jpg 1536w, https://static.news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/believe-founder-arrested-on-strangulation-charges-as-token-collapses-99-and-class-action-claims-54m-in-extracted-fees_nwmk.jpg 1582w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1582px) 100vw, 1582px"/> Picture supply: X In October 2025, Pasternak introduced Launchcoin could be retired and changed with a brand new token referred to as BELIEVE. The migration was necessary, with a two-week conversion window. The swap created 333 million new tokens distributed to insider-linked wallets, shrinking current holders’ stakes by roughly one third. Anybody who missed the October 29, 2025 deadline had their holdings completely destroyed.

The category motion criticism alleges the migration was not an improve however a structured reset engineered to extract recent charges from a brand new base of holders. The submitting states Pasternak “ran the identical play thrice, below three completely different token names,” pointing to PASTERNAK, LAUNCHCOIN, and BELIEVE as successive iterations of the identical alleged scheme .

Throughout the complete lifecycle of the platform, Imagine processed roughly $6 billion in buying and selling quantity from which Pasternak allegedly extracted an estimated $54 million in charges. Client losses are estimated within the a whole lot of thousands and thousands of {dollars}. The BELIEVE token now trades 99.8% beneath its all-time excessive of $0.35.

Arrest in New York as Authorized Stress Compounds The felony costs stem from a March 31 incident in New York. Pasternak faces one depend of second-degree strangulation and two counts of third-degree assault with intent to trigger bodily damage. The sufferer has been extensively recognized on-line as Evelyn Ha, a Tiktok influencer whom Pasternak had been publicly relationship since mid-2024. He has pleaded not responsible and his subsequent court docket look is scheduled for June 11.

In accordance with Wu Blockchain , Pasternak was staying at a resort charging $2,000 per night time on the time of the arrest, which prosecutors allege was partially an effort to keep away from being served within the ongoing civil proceedings. The arrest locations Pasternak below simultaneous stress throughout felony and civil jurisdictions. No formal felony costs tied particularly to the token allegations have been filed.