Vladimir Smerkis, Co-Founder of Crypto Game Blum, Arrested in Moscow

Vladimir Smerkis, co-founder of the crypto game Blum and former head of Binance's CIS division, has been arrested in Moscow on suspicion of fraud.

Vladimir Smerkis, a co-founder of the crypto game Blum and ex-head of Binance's CIS division, has been apprehended in Moscow.

The Zamoskvoretsky District Court made the decision to detain Smerkis, placing a lien on his property and banning him from specific actions like contacting witnesses, the court reported via the legal information system, as cited by Interfax. The authorities have refrained from disclosing any details regarding the suspected criminal activity.

Blum, a prominent project known for its "tap-to-earn" concept, further announced that Smerkis has left the company.

"We would like to inform our community that Vladimir Smerkis has stepped down from his role as CMO and is no longer involved in the development of the project or in any co-founder capacity," the team shared with 5.3 million followers on X (Twitter) on Thursday.

Blum emerged during the recent "tap-to-earn" trend, inviting users to repeatedly tap their screens to earn digital tokens. In Blum's game, players would tap on falling snowflakes to collect "MUMU" currency, which the project stated could be exchanged for real-world money.

This arrest comes as several tap-to-earn platforms are facing increased scrutiny. Blum's announcement follows a recent report by Point of view, highlighting the potential risks associated with such platforms.

Hamster Kombat, another tap-to-earn game, recently completed a massive token airdrop, the largest in the crypto industry to date, shifting the attention of crypto users to this sector. Blum quickly followed as one of several projects in the segment, which now holds a market cap of $511 million, according to CoinGecko.