🟠Vladimir Smerkis, ex-Binance Russia lead and co-founder of the #Telegram -native crypto project Blum, has been arrested in Moscow. #Russian media report he’s under investigation for “large-scale fraud” tied not to #BLUM , but to his earlier ventures — Tokenbox and The Token Fund, which allegedly left investors $15M in the red.
🟠The Zamoskvoretsky court approved his detention under Article 159 — a serious fraud statute that carries up to 12 years in prison. As of now, formal charges haven’t been confirmed.
🟠Blum was quick to distance itself, announcing on X that Smerkis has resigned and has zero involvement in current operations. The team insists it’s “business as usual.”
🟠But the community isn’t buying it. Just weeks ago, Blum hyped its Drop Game and teased a BLUM token listing in Q3 — with users grinding hard to earn “Blum Points” for the airdrop. Now? Radio silence.
🟠Influencers are calling it out: “No airdrop. No updates. Just silence.” The sentiment is shifting fast — and users are wondering if they’ve been farming pixels for nothing.
🫡 Pro tip: When your roadmap is gamified tapping and your exec ends up in jail — the market’s trust won’t tap back. Telegram-based or not, projects need credibility. And Blum’s is losing it flake by flake.