Vladimir Smerkis, a co-founder of the Telegram-based crypto project Blum, has reportedly been arrested in Moscow, Russia, on fraud allegations, amid Blum confirming he is no longer affiliated with the project.<\/p>\n
The Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow approved a request from investigators to keep Smerkis in custody while he is being investigated, Russian state-owned news outlet TASS reported<\/a> on May 18.<\/p>\n Smerkis \u2014 who previously ran operations for Binance in Russia<\/a> \u2014 is suspected of committing fraud on a \u201clarge scale,\u201d pursuant to Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, violations of which can result in imprisonment ranging from two to 12 years.<\/p>\n It isn\u2019t clear if charges have been filed against Smerkis.<\/p>\n Russian news outlet Mash tied<\/a> the fraud allegations against Smerkis to his involvement in The Token Fund and Tokenbox crypto ventures that he co-founded in 2017, where investors reportedly suffered combined losses of around $15 million.<\/p>\n Blum, which is not involved in The Token Fund and Tokenbox ventures, wrote to X on May 18 that Smerkis resigned from his role as the firm\u2019s chief marketing officer<\/a> and would no longer be involved in the project in any capacity.<\/p>\n Source: <\/em>Blum<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Blum said its team remains fully committed and focused on its goals and that its day-to-day operations would continue as usual.<\/p>\n Blum is a crypto project that integrates a decentralized exchange into Telegram Mini Apps, <\/a>enabling users to trade crypto, earn rewards and participate in token airdrops.<\/p>\n The incident sparked concerns that Blum\u2019s token airdrop won\u2019t follow through as planned.\u00a0<\/p>\n In an April 3 X post, Blum hinted<\/a> at a potential BLUM token listing in the third quarter of this year.<\/p>\n Blum users could receive BLUM tokens by earning Blum points<\/a> in its newly launched Drop Game, where users tap on snowflakes falling from their mobile phone screen, and convert those points into tokens during the project\u2019s slated token generation event<\/a>.<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong><\/em>Pavel Durov rejects EU pressure to censor Romanian election content<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n However, the news of Smerkis\u2019 arrest appears to have shaken community confidence<\/a> that the BLUM token airdrop will happen.<\/p>\n \u201cBlum owes its users a clarification on the planned airdrop,\u201d one X user and Blum community member said<\/a>, while crypto influencer RK Gupta added<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cNo airdrop. No updates. Just silence. Was it all for nothing?\u201d<\/p>\nNo Smerkis, no BLUM token?<\/h2>\n