Ben Pasternak / Believe / LAUNCHCOIN
Last changed 2026-10-10 · Score recalculated — Rescored under Scoring v2, the published formula (avoid.net/scoring): 0 → 26. Problems weighed by who is responsible: the subject's own conduct −90, concerns that are not fraud −6, problems around the subject, caused by others −1.8; legitimacy credit long-running +2; no established finding that it defrauded anyone, so it stays out of the red band; fact-check adjustments (−15) now shown as page reliability, not in the score. Version history →
Why this score
| Every page starts at | 65 |
| The subject's own conduct | -90 |
| Concerns that are not fraud | -6 |
| Problems around it, caused by others | -1.8 |
| Long-running | +2 |
| Sum | -31 |
- No established finding that it defrauded anyone, so it stays out of the red band (26 or above).
Score: 26/100 (kept between 0 and 100)
How scoring works →Summary
Ben Pasternak (born September 6, 1999) is an Australian entrepreneur and the founder of Believe, a Solana-based token launchpad formerly known as Clout. The platform processed over $6 billion in cumulative trading volume and collected approximately $54 million in fees across three successive tokens — $PASTERNAK, $LAUNCHCOIN, and $BELIEVE — each of which collapsed by more than 99% from peak value. Pasternak faces a federal civil class action (Lee v. Pasternak, No. 1:26-cv-02368, SDNY) alleging a serial rug-pull scheme and a separate criminal indictment in New York, and was arrested in April 2026 on assault and strangulation charges related to an unrelated alleged domestic incident.
Connected Entities
4 entities · 60 linked investigations- Ben Pasternak / Believe / LAUNCHCOIN→mentioned with→Believe(70%)
- Ben Pasternak / Believe / LAUNCHCOIN→mentioned with→Solana(70%)
- Ben Pasternak / Believe / LAUNCHCOIN→mentioned with→Meteora(60%)
- Believe→mentioned with→Ben Pasternak / Believe / LAUNCHCOIN(80%)
- Meteora→mentioned with→Solana(80%)
- Believe→mentioned with→Solana(80%)
- Believe→mentioned with→Meteora(60%)
Connected Through
4 shared actors · 360 investigationsDistinct actors this investigation shares with others — holders, traders, and named parties. Shared infrastructure (exchanges, pools) is excluded.
- □Solanaorganization
- □Meteoraorganization
- □Believeorganizationalso in
- ♦Ben Pasternak / Believe / LAUNCHCOINtokenalso in
Timeline(12 events)
24 January 2025
$PASTERNAK token launched on Solana; Pasternak publicly claims '0 ownership' of the token. Token reached an alleged market cap of ~$80M on its first day.
Phemex Academy — Ben Pasternak Lawsuit29 April 2025
$PASTERNAK token rebranded to $LAUNCHCOIN as the platform's native token.
CryptoManiaks — What Is Launch Coin On Believe?May 2025
$LAUNCHCOIN reaches peak market capitalization of approximately $370 million.
Phemex Academy — Ben Pasternak LawsuitMay 2025
Pasternak begins making public statements about a 'flywheel' buyback mechanism for $LAUNCHCOIN, making at least 12 such statements between May and October 2025 according to the civil complaint.
Crypto.news — Class Action Claims Believe Founder Collected $54M15 October 2025
Forced migration from $LAUNCHCOIN to $BELIEVE announced with a two-week window. Token supply increased from 1 billion to 1.33 billion, diluting holders by ~33%; newly minted tokens alleged to have been directed to insider wallets.
Phemex Academy — Ben Pasternak Lawsuit29 October 2025
Migration deadline passes; unconverted $LAUNCHCOIN tokens permanently burned.
KuCoin — 26-Year-Old Believe Founder Faces Criminal Charges23 March 2026
Burwick Law files federal class action Lee v. Pasternak (No. 1:26-cv-02368) in the Southern District of New York against Ben Pasternak, B24 Inc., and the Believe Foundation.
Burwick Law — Proof of Service Filed in Lee v. Pasternak31 March 2026
Alleged incident at the Baccarat Hotel in New York involving Pasternak and YouTube creator Evelyn Ha, the basis for subsequent assault and strangulation charges.
Crypto.news — Class Action Claims Believe Founder Collected $54M22 April 2026
Pasternak arrested in New York on charges of second-degree strangulation and two counts of third-degree assault in connection with the March 31 incident involving Evelyn Ha. Pleads not guilty.
The Block — Believe Founder Arrested on Strangulation Charges22 April 2026
$BELIEVE token collapses approximately 99% following Pasternak's arrest.
GNCrypto News — Ben Pasternak Arrested; Believe Token Collapses 99%23 April 2026
Decrypt and multiple outlets report the arrest; criminal indictment in SDNY related to the alleged crypto fraud scheme also reported across outlets around this period.
Decrypt — Founder of Solana Token Launchpad Believe Arrested11 June 2026
Pasternak's scheduled court appearance for the New York Criminal Court assault and strangulation charges.
Crypto.news — Class Action Claims Believe Founder Collected $54MDecision Log
- slot 455358232 · hash BELyguqeyoheYiTHqEsQ96G7qB82E7bQaAmLy3rtw7C7
- slot 443521472 · hash H7abgKD6BrZyXox9wWfhku1eQ7Gx5jkVrzDQjQYxByaH
- slot 443521460 · hash Cr5QJd3cwzSRxzoaxwsgtc7BvN2GTEr5ACsNQUZETLMZ
- slot 443503571 · hash FSGzvnm8RFxrVboHsdhrEAXP97ZpQ5noeGVqt1ETsLq3
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (4 decisions). 14 of 15 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 8/2/2026, 12:23:37 PM
last updated: 10/10/2026, 6:40:01 PM
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