Key Takeaways:
- Vladimir Smerkis, former Binance Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) head and Blum co-founder, was arrested in Moscow under Article 159 for large-scale fraud.
- Blum announced Smerkis’s resignation before his arrest surfaced and reaffirmed its commitment to its roadmap.
- Users on X have raised doubts about the project’s promises.
- Previous failed ventures led by Smerkis, such as The Token Fund and Tokenbox, have resurfaced amid renewed scrutiny.
- Despite uncertainty, no legal action currently implicates Blum directly, and the platform may still proceed with its TGE and exchange listing.
Former Binance executive and Blum co-founder Vladimir Smerkis has been arrested in Moscow on charges of large-scale fraud.
According to a TASS report published on May 18, the Zamoskvoretsky District Court approved a motion to detain Smerkis following his arrest under Article 159 of Russia’s Criminal Code, which pertains to large-scale fraud.
Smerkis’s arrest, disclosed to TASS by law enforcement, remains lacking in public detail. While court records confirm the submission of related materials, the court has not yet made its ruling public.
Blum: A Promising Start, Now in Question
Vladimir Smerkis is a co-founder of Blum, a Telegram-based crypto exchange that integrates social networking with decentralized finance. Its “tap-to-earn” system has rapidly gained popularity, attracting approximately 20 million users.
However, even before the arrest, delays in token launches and exchange listings had already sparked growing concern among its reported user base.
Blum Users Sound the Alarm After Arrest
Shortly before news of his arrest surfaced, Blum announced on X that Vladimir Smerkis had stepped down as Chief Marketing Officer and was no longer involved with the project, as stated in the project’s official X account:
Despite the controversy, the team reaffirmed that it remains committed to its roadmap, including the upcoming token generation event (TGE), and plans to continue operations.
However, Blum’s statements of confidence have done little to stem a rising wave of skepticism sweeping across X, where users are increasingly questioning the legitimacy of the airdrop, the promised token listing, and the project’s overall credibility, as shown in the below post:
Furthermore, following his arrest, users began digging into Smerkis’s past ventures, uncovering troubling patterns linked to earlier crypto projects.
In 2017, Smerkis co-founded The Token Fund, an investment platform that raised roughly $8 million before shutting down abruptly in 2018, leaving investors without clear communication or compensation
He later launched Tokenbox, a marketplace for tokenized funds and ICOs. Though it raised another $7 million and introduced the TBX token, the project quickly faded as the token lost value and operations ceased. The community speaks for itself:
Final Thoughts
For now, one thing is clear: the arrest of Vladimir Smerkis has intensified the pressure on Blum to regain user trust and deliver on its promises.
However, while skepticism remains, no new legal developments have emerged that directly implicate the platform itself, meaning there’s still a realistic chance Blum will carry through with its scheduled token launch and exchange listing.
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