Gate News message, April 23 — Benjamin Pasternak, 26, founder of a Solana-based SocialFi platform, was arrested on Tuesday on charges of second-degree strangulation and third-degree assault, according to New York Criminal Court records. The arrest followed an incident on March 31. Pasternak pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to appear in court on June 11.
The platform allows users to buy and trade tokens associated with creators and influencers. According to Coingecko data, the platform’s native token has collapsed 99.7% from its May 2025 peak, now trading at $0.0007009. The token fell 24% in the past 24 hours.
A class-action lawsuit filed on March 23 alleges that Pasternak orchestrated a rug pull, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in investor losses. The suit claims the team forced a migration from the original Launchcoin token to a new token last October, creating 333 million new tokens for insiders and diluting existing holdings by approximately one-third. Tokens from users who did not migrate were destroyed. The complaint alleges Pasternak disappeared after the forced migration, providing no updates to investors. It remains unclear whether the arrest is directly connected to the civil lawsuit.
Disclaimer: The information on this page may come from third parties and does not represent the views or opinions of Gate. The content displayed on this page is for reference only and does not constitute any financial, investment, or legal advice. Gate does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information and shall not be liable for any losses arising from the use of this information. Virtual asset investments carry high risks and are subject to significant price volatility. You may lose all of your invested principal. Please fully understand the relevant risks and make prudent decisions based on your own financial situation and risk tolerance. For details, please refer to
Disclaimer.
Related Articles
Tether freezes $344 million in USDT on the Tron network: OFAC collaboration, two addresses implicated in sanctions evasion
According to a Decrypt 4/23 report, stablecoin issuer Tether froze two wallets on the Tron chain that day, totaling $344 million USDT—one of the largest single-instance freezing actions in Tether’s history. The entity coordinating the action did so in conjunction with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and U.S. law enforcement agencies. The two addresses were marked as allegedly involved in sanctions evasion, criminal networks, or other illegal activities.
Two Tron addresses total $344 million USDT frozen
Decrypt cites Tether data, saying that this freeze was concentrated on the Tron network, broken down into the following two transactions:
Address (prefix) Frozen amount Chain TNiq9…QZH81 About $213 million USDT Tron
ChainNewsAbmedia38m ago
Consumer Federation Files Lawsuit Against Meta Over $16B Annual Revenue From Scam Ads
Gate News message, April 23 — The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) has filed a class-action lawsuit against Meta Platforms in Washington, D.C. Superior Court, accusing the social media giant of knowingly generating billions in revenue from scam advertisements while failing to protect
GateNews1h ago
Spain Seizes €400K in Crypto from Major Piracy Platform, Arrests Three Suspects
Gate News message, April 23 — Spanish authorities in Almería dismantled one of the country's largest Spanish-language piracy platforms and seized two crypto cold wallets containing approximately €400,000 (roughly $467,000) in assets.
GateNews2h ago
Tether Freezes $344M in USDT on Tron Blockchain in Coordination with OFAC
Gate News message, April 23 — Tether froze two large whale wallets on the Tron blockchain holding a combined $344 million in USDT on Wednesday in coordination with the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and U.S. law enforcement. The two addresses held approximately $131.3 millio
GateNews3h ago
Justin Sun Sues Trump's World Liberty Financial Over Frozen Tokens
Tron (TRX) founder Justin Sun filed a lawsuit against World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a cryptocurrency project supported by US President Donald Trump, alleging that the WLFI project team froze his tokens without valid reason and stripped him of voting rights. The lawsuit was filed in California
CryptoFrontier3h ago
Sam Bankman-Fried Withdraws New Trial Motion, Citing Concerns Over Fair Hearing from Judge
Gate News message, April 23 — Sam Bankman-Fried, former FTX CEO, withdrew his motion for a new trial on Wednesday in a letter to U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, stating he does not believe he will receive a "fair hearing" on the matter from the judge.
In his filing with the U.S. District Court fo
GateNews4h ago
