In one of the year’s most dramatic turnarounds, $LAUNCHCOIN—formerly known as $PASTERNAK—has astonished the crypto community by shooting up over 410% in a single day.
Once dismissed as a failed project that lacked transparency and utility, the rebranded token has made a remarkable comeback, peaking at a $100 million market cap before settling at around $88 million.
The token’s comeback signifies not only a price rally but also the revival of an often-dismissed concept attempting to unite the appeal of Tinseltown with the sway of Wall Street in a post-Internet, Web3 world. What used to be regarded as a soft rug has turned into one of the market’s surprise altcoin stories this year.
From Collapse to Reinvention: The Story Behind the Token
Initially launched by the Web3 SocialFi platform Clout under the name $PASTERNAK, the token came into existence with lofty ambitions. Clout positioned itself as the cultural and financial nerve center of Web3—a social platform that aimed to supercharge creators, traders, and influencers in a decentralized realm. When $PASTERNAK had its moment, it struck a market cap of $80 million. But the ride was short and bumpy—nice enough for some people to take a picture, but with heavy doses of suspicion and eventual disappointment as the token’s alleged path toward those aforementioned lofty goals became, well, a little too foggy. And then it luge-ed down to—but wait, there’s more—$190,000 in a scene that was anything but cinematic. At that point, you were lucky if you had a picture.
The steep drop caused traders to accuse management of performing a soft rug, a crypto term for abandoning a project in a way that looks somewhat legitimate. With most traders now convinced the project is dead, it has been impossible for even substantial buyers to prevent the price from sinking.
In April 2025, Clout performed a strategic rebranding to become Believe. The renewe…
The Trader Who Didn’t Flinch
This resurrection tale has several compelling subplots, one of which involves the on-chain trader @traderpow. He made a spendy purchase several months ago, buying 17.66 million $PASTERNAK tokens for 1,466 SOL worth about $367,000. After a few weeks, the market for PASTERNAK seemed to have turned sour when it dropped almost 99% in value. Most traders would have freaked out and thrown up their hands in some form of panic selling when their investment plummets like that.
Yet, @traderpow stayed the course.
Holding in the face of adversity, his conviction has now rewarded him very handsomely. As of this week, with $LAUNCHCOIN now (temporarily) sporting a market cap of $150 million, his original position is now worth something in the neighborhood of $2.7 million. The not-evangelist-yet is earning some praise in the crypto community for his recent turnaround, which, like any recent turnaround, is re-triggering the old debate about whether or not this is a good time to be a long-term holder.
This tale has taken on a more powerful meaning for the crypto community. They know it all too well: risk and reward are as unpredictable as the prices of altcoins. And the new breed of altcoin that’s sprung up in recent months? It’s pure speculation.
From near zero to $2.7M—absolute legend!
3 months ago, @traderpow spent 1,466 $SOL($367K) to buy 17.66M $LAUNCHCOIN(PASTERNAK), only to watch it crash ~99%.
But he held on.
Now, with $LAUNCHCOIN breaking a $150M market cap, his 17.66M $LAUNCHCOIN is worth $2.7M!… pic.twitter.com/PYfSPxjk1S
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) May 13, 2025
A New Phase for Believe and Launch Coin
The Clout rebranding to Believe is about way more than just changing the name on the door. It is about being committed to increased usefulness and better governance within the Web3 ecosystem of which the company is a part. It has dropped some hints in its announcement about where things are headed. And the upcoming partnerships, creator tools, and developer incentive programs it mentioned could well underpin how $LAUNCHCOIN establishes itself as a Web3 presence going forward.
Even though some skeptics are warning that merely rebranding cannot fix deep-seated problems, the first signs from the project indicate a much more structured and transparent way of working than before. The shift in community sentiment is palpable, with almost all the tokens being chased by renewed interest from former critics and investors.
Despite this, the high volatility is likely to continue. When one considers the swift-riding history of memecoins and the very SocialFi space in which $LAUNCHCOIN now finds itself, one can only reach the conclusion that $LAUNCHCOIN’s survival over the long haul will be contingent not on any smart contract or 1:1 backing with digital assets, but rather on the team’s ability to ride the updating treadmill and serve up user value.
In a market famous for quick upswings and even speedier downturns, the revival of $LAUNCHCOIN is both uncommon and educational. It may be the outcome of deliberate reimagining or of good old speculative enthusiasm, but however it might be characterized, the project is back in the news and back in some investment portfolios. It’s definitely in the investment portfolio of @traderpow, who waited months for the token to stop sinking like a stone and start making a comeback.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.
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