Blum co-founder and former Binance Russia executive Vladimir Smerkis was arrested in Moscow on fraud charges

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, Vladimir Smerkis, co-founder of the Telegram Mini App project Blum and former head of Binance for Russia and the CIS, was arrested on May 17 in Moscow on suspicion of large-scale fraud. The official charges have not yet been disclosed, but some media outlets suggest it may be related to his earlier projects The Token Fund and Tokenbox.

Blum stated that Smerkis has resigned from his position as CMO and will no longer be involved in the project. This incident has raised concerns among some users regarding the airdrop originally planned for the second quarter.