Key Takeaways:

• Pasternak, 26, was charged with second-degree strangulation and third-degree assault over a March 31 incident; he has pleaded not guilty, with a court date set for June 11.
• A class action complaint alleges he “ran the same play three times” across PASTERNAK, LAUNCHCOIN, and BELIEVE, extracting $54M in fees from roughly $6B in trading volume.
• Pasternak was reportedly staying at a $2,000-per-night hotel to avoid civil lawsuit service at the time of his arrest.

Three Tokens, One Alleged Playbook

Pasternak founded Launchcoin, a Solana-based social token launchpad that allows users to launch tokens tied to online personalities and communities. The platform grew quickly, with Launchcoin’s native token reaching a peak market cap of $370 million before a forced migration reset the table for existing holders.

In October 2025, Pasternak announced Launchcoin would be retired and replaced with a new token called BELIEVE. The migration was mandatory, with a two-week conversion window. The swap created 333 million new tokens distributed to insider-linked wallets, shrinking existing holders’ stakes by roughly one third. Anyone who missed the October 29, 2025 deadline had their holdings permanently destroyed.

The class action complaint alleges the migration was not an upgrade but a structured reset engineered to extract fresh fees from a new base of holders. The filing states Pasternak “ran the same play three times, under three different token names,” pointing to PASTERNAK, LAUNCHCOIN, and BELIEVE as successive iterations of the same alleged scheme.

Across the full lifecycle of the platform, Believe processed roughly $6 billion in trading volume from which Pasternak allegedly extracted an estimated $54 million in fees. Consumer losses are estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The BELIEVE token now trades 99.8% below its all-time high of $0.35.

Arrest in New York as Legal Pressure Compounds

The criminal charges stem from a March 31 incident in New York. Pasternak faces one count of second-degree strangulation and two counts of third-degree assault with intent to cause physical injury. The victim has been widely identified online as Evelyn Ha, a Tiktok influencer whom Pasternak had been publicly dating since mid-2024. He has pleaded not guilty and his next court appearance is scheduled for June 11.

According to Wu Blockchain, Pasternak was staying at a hotel charging $2,000 per night at the time of the arrest, which prosecutors allege was in part an effort to avoid being served in the ongoing civil proceedings. The arrest places Pasternak under simultaneous pressure across criminal and civil jurisdictions. No formal criminal charges tied specifically to the token allegations have been filed.

NEW YORK, April 24, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —

WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, announces an investigation of potential securities claims on behalf of investors in FLOW (FLOW-USD) cryptocurrency, resulting from allegations that Flow Foundation may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public.

SO WHAT: If you purchased FLOW cryptocurrency you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. The Rosen Law Firm is preparing a class action seeking recovery of investor losses.

WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the prospective class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=56767 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email case@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action.

WHAT IS THIS ABOUT: If you purchased FLOW cryptocurrency on or before December 27, 2025 and held your Flow cryptocurrency through December 29, 2025, please reach out to the firm. There are no out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement.

WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources, or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually litigate securities class actions. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm achieved, at that time, the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs’ Bar. Many of the firm’s attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.

Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/.

Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Contact Information:

Laurence Rosen, Esq.
Phillip Kim, Esq.
The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.
275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Tel: (212) 686-1060
Toll Free: (866) 767-3653
Fax: (212) 202-3827
case@rosenlegal.com
www.rosenlegal.com

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was demonstrated the first crypto payment in Kazakhstan using the domestic CryptoPay system. 

Earlier today, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev visited the Alem.ai Artificial Intelligence Center. Furthermore, he took part in the launch of several educational initiatives. The concept of the AI Research University was also presented to President Tokayev. Later, the Head of State started the countdown to the Phygital Games of the Future 2026.