Vladimir Smerkis, a co-founder of the Telegram-based crypto challenge Blum, has reportedly been arrested in Moscow, Russia, on fraud allegations, amid Blum confirming he’s not affiliated with the challenge.
The Zamoskvoretsky District Courtroom of Moscow authorized a request from investigators to maintain Smerkis in custody whereas he’s being investigated, Russian state-owned information outlet TASS reported on Could 18.
Smerkis — who beforehand ran operations for Binance in Russia — is suspected of committing fraud on a “massive scale,” pursuant to Article 159 of the Prison Code of the Russian Federation, violations of which may end up in imprisonment starting from two to 12 years.
It isn’t clear if charges have been filed towards Smerkis.
Russian information outlet Mash tied the fraud allegations towards Smerkis to his involvement in The Token Fund and Tokenbox crypto ventures that he co-founded in 2017, the place traders reportedly suffered mixed losses of round $15 million.
Blum, which isn’t concerned in The Token Fund and Tokenbox ventures, wrote to X on Could 18 that Smerkis resigned from his function because the agency’s chief marketing officer and would not be concerned within the challenge in any capability.
Blum mentioned its group stays totally dedicated and targeted on its objectives and that its day-to-day operations would proceed as common.
Blum is a crypto challenge that integrates a decentralized trade into Telegram Mini Apps, enabling customers to commerce crypto, earn rewards and take part in token airdrops.
No Smerkis, no BLUM token?
The incident sparked considerations that Blum’s token airdrop received’t comply with via as deliberate.
In an April 3 X submit, Blum hinted at a possible BLUM token itemizing within the third quarter of this 12 months.
Blum customers may obtain BLUM tokens by earning Blum points in its newly launched Drop Sport, the place customers faucet on snowflakes falling from their cell phone display screen, and convert these factors into tokens through the challenge’s slated token generation event.
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Nevertheless, the information of Smerkis’ arrest seems to have shaken community confidence that the BLUM token airdrop will occur.
“Blum owes its customers a clarification on the deliberate airdrop,” one X person and Blum group member said, whereas crypto influencer RK Gupta added:
“No airdrop. No updates. Simply silence. Was all of it for nothing?”
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Cointelegraph by Brayden Lindrea Russia arrests Blum co-founder Vladimir Smerkis on fraud charges cointelegraph.com 2025-05-19 00:29:20
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