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The co-founder of Telegram-based crypto task Blum, Vladimir Smerkis, is successful custody successful Moscow implicit accusations that helium committed large-scale fraud, TASS reports.
Vladimir Smerkis, a co-founder of the Telegram-based crypto task Blum, has reportedly been arrested successful Moscow, Russia, connected fraud allegations, amid Blum confirming helium is nary longer affiliated with the project.
The Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow approved a petition from investigators to support Smerkis successful custody portion helium is being investigated, Russian state-owned quality outlet TASS reported connected May 18.
Smerkis — who antecedently ran operations for Binance successful Russia — is suspected of committing fraud connected a “large scale,” pursuant to Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, violations of which tin effect successful imprisonment ranging from 2 to 12 years.
It isn’t wide if charges person been filed against Smerkis.
Russian quality outlet Mash tied the fraud allegations against Smerkis to his engagement successful The Token Fund and Tokenbox crypto ventures that helium co-founded successful 2017, wherever investors reportedly suffered combined losses of astir $15 million.
Blum, which is not progressive successful The Token Fund and Tokenbox ventures, wrote to X connected May 18 that Smerkis resigned from his relation arsenic the firm’s chief selling officer and would nary longer beryllium progressive successful the task successful immoderate capacity.
Source: Blum
Blum said its squad remains afloat committed and focused connected its goals and that its day-to-day operations would proceed arsenic usual.
Blum is simply a crypto task that integrates a decentralized speech into Telegram Mini Apps, enabling users to commercialized crypto, gain rewards and enactment successful token airdrops.
No Smerkis, nary BLUM token?
The incidental sparked concerns that Blum’s token airdrop won’t travel done arsenic planned.
In an April 3 X post, Blum hinted astatine a imaginable BLUM token listing successful the 3rd 4th of this year.
Blum users could person BLUM tokens by earning Blum points successful its recently launched Drop Game, wherever users pat connected snowflakes falling from their mobile telephone screen, and person those points into tokens during the project’s slated token procreation event.
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However, the quality of Smerkis’ apprehension appears to person shaken community confidence that the BLUM token airdrop volition happen.
“Blum owes its users a clarification connected the planned airdrop,” 1 X idiosyncratic and Blum assemblage subordinate said, portion crypto influencer RK Gupta added:
“No airdrop. No updates. Just silence. Was it each for nothing?”Magazine: Pranksy: Inside the anonymous beingness of an NFT fable — NFT Collector
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