After the Collapse of the Believe Flywheel Myth, the 26-Year-Old Prodigy Founder Stands as Defendant in Federal Court
In March 2026, 26-year-old Australian entrepreneur Ben Pasternak and his entities B24, Inc. and Believe Foundation were sued in a New York federal court. Investors accused Pasternak of deceptive practices and false advertising through three consecutive token offerings and a forced token migration, causing hundreds of millions in losses.
The case centers on Believe (formerly Clout.me), a Solana-based social token launch platform Pasternak founded. Users could create tokens via tweets, with the platform token LAUNCHCOIN reaching a peak market cap of $370 million in May 2025. Pasternak initially claimed he had "zero ownership" of his self-named token, PASTERNAK, which crashed over 95% within a week.
In October 2025, Believe forced a migration from LAUNCHCOIN to a new token, BELIEVE, increasing total supply by 33.3%. New tokens were allocated to team members, investors, and the foundation, diluting existing holders. Pasternak falsely claimed no tokens were allocated to insiders for a year, while the foundation received 40 million tokens with no lock-up.
The platform generated an estimated $54 million in fees from $6 billion in trading volume. Pasternak earned creator fees throughout. After the migration, significant selling occurred from top wallets. BELIEVE’s value plummeted from its peak to around $1.2 million.
Pasternak, a former teen prodigy who dropped out of school at 15, had previously founded apps like Monkey and the food-tech startup NUGGS. His personal life also drew attention, including a public breakup in early 2026. Once hailed as "the next Zuckerberg," he now faces legal and reputational collapse.
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