Blum cryptogame co-founder and ex-head of Binance in CIS arrested

The former head of Binance in the CIS and co-founder of the crypto game Blum, Vladimir Smerkis, has been arrested by the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow. He is suspected of fraud, probably related to the activities of past cryptoprojects.

And he is suspected of fraud, probably related to the activities of past crypto projects.

According to investigators, affected investors may have lost at least $15 million. The investigation concerns a number of initiatives, including tokenization platforms The Token Fund and Tokenbox, as well as Blum, a game aimed at Telegram users.

The investigation also concerns a number of initiatives, including tokenization platforms The Token Fund and Tokenbox, as well as Blum, a game aimed at Telegram users.

The Blum team said Smerkis had resigned as chief marketing officer and was no longer involved in the project, either as a developer or co-founder. This happened on the day of the arrest, May 16.

What’s known about Smerkis’ projects

In 2017, Vladimir Smerkis launched an investment fund called The Token Fund. Users were offered to buy TKN tokens for cryptocurrency with the promise of returns. Investors invested about eight million dollars, but already in 2018 the fund closed and the payouts stopped.

The next project, Tokenbox, raised seven million dollars in investments. Its token TBX went public on exchanges, but quickly depreciated in value. There was no return on investment.

Blum is Smerkis’ third initiative in the cryptosphere. It’s a hybrid game and exchange on Telegram, analogous to the popular Hamster Kombat project. Users earned points and expected to convert them into tokens with the ability to withdraw funds. However, the token has not yet been listed, despite the team’s promises.

Preliminary reports suggest that these were the circumstances that formed the basis of the fraud case in which Smerkis was taken into custody.

Possible implications for Blum

Blum has been actively preparing for a token listing in 2025, but the arrest of a co-founder and suspected fraud cast doubt on the realization of those plans. Investigations are continuing to probe the fundraising schemes used in the game and Smerkis’ previous initiatives.

The Arrested co-founder of crypto game Blum and ex-Binance head in CIS was first published on ITZine.ru.